


Bruises and Bitemarks

by Leven_the_Valkyrie



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, M/M, Mates, Mpreg, Werewolves, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 16:42:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 19
Words: 52,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4968493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leven_the_Valkyrie/pseuds/Leven_the_Valkyrie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every fairytale says to stay away from the Big Bad Wolf. To bad Roxas never read fairytales. AkuRoku. Mpreg. DISCONTINUED/BEING REWRITTEN</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wolf

Once upon a time on a cold fall day Roxas was laying in a pile of leaves he just raked up. He was tired and wanted to do nothing but watch clouds move across the blue sky. It was the quiet, peaceful moments like this that Roxas loved.

But living where he did moments like this didn't last long, "Oh Roxasss!" said a blond sat up so he could properly glare at his younger sister. Naminé didn't even flinch since she always got the same look from the oldest Jecht kid, "Mommy told me to come get you for dinner."

Once Naminé was done relaying the message she turned on her heels and walked back into the house. Roxas got up with a huff and slowly followed her. Roxas was the only one out of his three siblings that liked the outdoors the most. But all too soon he reached the door and reluctantly went inside.

It wasn't that Roxas didn't like his home, in fact he loved it, but he just his family was to big for their small house. He lived in a 2 story house with three bedrooms and one bathroom. His family consist of his parents, Cloud his older brother, Sora his twin, Naminé his little sister, and Uncle Auron.

Once he entered the home he was greeted by the smell of tomato sauce and the yelling of Cloud and Sora fighting, probably over why so-and-so got more food then the other. Roxas rolled his eyes and took an empty seat between Auron and Cloud and reached over for the bowl of pasta.

"So kids," Yuna Jecht spoke up, "How was school?" Yuna was young. Her and her husband, Tidus, ad been high school sweethearts and had Cloud when they were 17 years old. Nether finished school so Yuna could stay home and take care of Cloud while Tidus went into the working world so he could get enough money to give Yuna a proper wedding and so he could take care of his family. If it wasn't for Auron's help they probably would be out in the streets now. So long story short the Ject's were strict when it came to school and dating.

Sora stopped his bickering with Cloud and gave his mother a big grin, "It was AWSOME! We had a sub in chem so we didn't have to take Mr. Vexen's test from Hell. OH and-"

"I bet you didn't even study." Auron's gruff voice cut through Sora's more chipper one. Sora closed his mouth and sunk in his seat.

Yuna was about to lecture her son but was stopped by Tidus, "Aw, come on Yuna, he can only be a kid once so let him live a little." This wasn't the best move to make. Yuna's attention was moved from Sora to her husband.

And thus the fighting begins.

Roxas picked up his food and went to his room which he shared with his brothers; it also happened to be the basement. Once he was down there he grabbed his homework and started it. He wasn't an A student but he did well enough so he wouldn't have to get lectured by Yuna.

A hour later heavy footsteps came down the stairs. Thinking it was one of his brothers Roxas ignored it and continued with his math homework, "You're using the wrong formula." Roxas jumped a little. H turned his head and saw his uncle looking over his shoulder. The blond doubled checked the problem and saw that indeed it was wrong.

"Did you just come down here to tutor me?"

Auron just chuckled and walked in front of Roxas so he could lean agents the wall and was beside the desk, "No. I just wanted to tell you that your life is your story. Don't let anyone else other then you write it." With that said Auron left the basement leaving a very confused Roxas

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas was walking around town after school with his best friends. Hayner was walking beside him and talking about how unfair the math teacher was or something like that, Roxas wasn't really paying attention. Pence and Olette were walking a few paces behind them and were whispering to each other.

"Lets go get some ice cream!" Hayner exclaimed and pumped his fist in the air, "Last one there's has to pay!" Then he started to run in the direction of the ice cream shop. Everyone followed with Pence in last. Roxas was in the lead till something caught is attention.

It was more like a person then a thing. He was someone Roxas had never seen before in the small town. He was really tall with bright red hair that looked like a hedgehog. The stranger seemed to noticed that he was being watched and turned and stared back at the blond.

Roxas felt his jaw drop. The man's eyes were a beautiful shade of green and underlined with unusual upside down purple triangles. He grinned showing off white teeth; his canine were long and looked like fangs.

The stranger started walking towards him and to not make himself look more like a fool Roxas turned and ran to where his friends disappeared to. He caught up to them right as Pence walked into the store.

"Roxas what happened? I thought you were in front of me."

"I...ummm...I saw something."

"Sure something huh?" Hayner walked out of the store and nudged Roxas in the ribs, "Wanna go ask her out after you by my ice cream?"

Olette's hands flew to her mouth to suppress her giggling, "Aww that's so cute! What dos she look like?"

Roxas payed for the sea-salt ice cream and walked out of the store ignoring his friends.

~X~x~X~x~

"Roxas can you do me a favor?" Yuna approached her son with a big smile. When Roxas nodded she continued, "When you finish your homework can you go to your grandfather's house? He needs someone to mow his back yard and I know how much you love working out doors."

Roxas sighed and got up, "I can go now. I only have some reading to do." H made to grab his jacket but was stopped by his mom grabbing it.

"I really wish you wouldn't wear so much black. How about you wear that red hoodie Naminé got you for Christmas last year?" She didn't wait for her son's reply and walked back upstairs with the black jacket in hand.

Roxas walked over to his dresser and dug through the draws and started to fling cloths out and scattered them all over the floor not caring about the mess he was making. He just couldn't remember where he put that hoodie at, "Sora!" Roxas yelled, "Have you seen my red hoodie?"

After a few seconds of silence Roxas heard Sora's muffled response from the upper floor. He walked to the other side of the room to his bed, "Why would it be here?" the blond asked himself but got on his knees and started to sort through the junk under his bed.

The hoodie was found, to Roxas' surprise, right where Sora said it was. He put it on and left the house wanted to get the work done before it was dark and ran across town. He was almost there when it started to rain.

"Shit!" Roxas pulled the hood up and kept running. It started raining harder and it would be pointless to work now but the teen was closer to his grandfather's house then his own. With any luck he would be able to stay the night and get away from his brothers' snoring.

Roxas was passing the forest that surrounded the small town when he saw a flash of red. Stopping in his tracks the now drenched blond saw the same redhead he saw earlier that day.

"Well well what do we have here?" The redhead walked out of the shadows the frost provided and and approached Roxas, "My name's Axel. Better memorize it 'cuz I'm only telling you once." Roxas couldn't help but notice the crooked smile Axel wore, it was like he didn't even notice the rain.

"My name's Roxas. I really need to get going. Nice meeting you Alex."

Axel's smile turned into a sneer, "Thought I told you kid," He grabbed Roxas' wrist and pulled him closer, "Name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Now Roxas, care to tell me where you're going?"

Roxas looked around to see if anyone was around to help him get away from the crazy man but due to the heavy rain the streets were deserted, "I'm on my way to Braska's house."

Axel wrapped his free arm around Roxas' waist bring their drenched bodies closer, "That's pretty far from here would you like me to escort you?"

"No, it's fine." Roxas tried to push himself away but Axel was stronger then him and wouldn't let Roxas go, "Let me go asshole!"

Axel leaned down so his mouth was by Roxas ear, "As you wish," Before Axel released the blond tho he bit Roxas' neck drawing blood. He let go of the small boy and started to head into the forest, "Remember Little Red stay on the path."

Roxas watched Axel disappear and rubbed the now bruise on his neck. What the fuck is his deal? Ignoring the storm, he started to walk in the direction that the taller man was going in. Why would he go here? There was a bright streak that went across the sky followed by a loud rumble of thunder, "God dammit! I should go back."

When he turned around to go back the way he came and only found the path blocked by a tangled thicket of rose bushes, "W-what?" The rain caused a thick mist to wash over the area. After a quick scan of the area Roxas saw a trail of blue roses and realized that he could only walk foreword.

Swallowing his fear Roxas pulled his hood off seeing how he was already drenched and the hood wasn't protecting him from the rain anymore. He followed the trail of roses and took note that nothing in the forest looked dead. In fact it didn't even look like the autumn season had effected the plants, everything was still green and there wasn't any leaves on the ground.

Roxas was walking for what felt like miles when the rain started to get heavier. Roxas was soaked to the bone and was completely numb. The only thing he could feel was the bite mark on his neck which was starting to burn.

A while latter the rain was still falling and Roxas knew that he should look for shelter. Mentally preparing himself for danger ahead Roxas veered off the path and headed into the mist. The moment he left the path there was a loud crack behind him. Spinning on his foot Roxas saw the path he was just on disappear.

"What the hell is going on?" Roxas screamed.

Not knowing where to go Roxas picked a random direction and continued on his trek.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas awoke to a soft giggle. The first thing that h saw was a girl who was around the same age as Naminé. She had short red-brown hair and blue sparkling eyes.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Roxas said while sitting up and looking around. It appeared that he was in a cave. He was stripped to his boxers and his clothes were hanging by a fire close to the mouth of the cave.

The young girl giggled again, "I found you sleeping out by the lake. You didn't look comfortable so I brought you to mine and my brother's place" Roxas eyed the girl. She lived in a cave in the middle of nowhere? "Oh you asked my name didn't you? I'm Kairi! I'm 7 years old and my favorite color is pink-"

"Look what the cat dragged in." A cool voice said over Kairi's monolog. Roxas looked to where the voice came from and his eyes doubbled in size. Axel was standing at the cave entrance, "I thought I told you to stay on the path Roxy." Axel flashed Roxas a Cheshire cat like grin that Roxas returned with a scowl.

Kairi looked at Axel and then to Roxas and back to Axel with a confused look on her face, "Big brother, you know him?" She walked over to him and pulled on the hem on his shirt.

The older boy knelt down so his face was leveled with his sister's and whispered something in her ear so Roxas couldn't hear. Kairi's hands flew up to her mouth in shock and her eyes widened, "You're not lying right big brother?" Axel shook his head no. Kairi ran over to Roxas. When she reached him she ran a tiny hand over the bite mark. Roxas pulled away from her and hissed in pain. The mark still burned, "Oh it's true!" The little girl cried. She bounced in place with excitement, "So is he going to live with us?"

"What the hell is going on?" Roxas yelled. He stood up and walked towards the fire to get his clothes. He ignored Axel's wolf whistle as he passed him and started to get dressed.

"You're big brother's mate." Kairi said bluntly with a huge smile.

Roxas almost fell when he heard that but caught himself, "H-his what!"

Kairi giggled and continued talking as if Roxas never spoke, "Can we go visit the Outerlands? Oh it's going to be so nice to have a family again." The blond was starting to get amused by the little girls short attention span.

Roxas blocked out Kairi's on going questions and finished getting dressed. He was pulling his shirt on when he suddenly felt light headed. Groaning he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

Axel looked over towards Roxas and saw him starting to slide down the wall, "Shit." He ran over and grabbed Roxas before he fell, "Shit! Kairi run down to the lake and bring back water." Kairi gave Axel a blank stair and watched him carefully pick Roxas up and place him on the heap of blankets that the blond slept in earlier.

The redhead looked up at his sister and growled at her making snap out of whatever was going on in her head and bolted out of the cave.

Axel sat net to the unconscious boy and brushed Roxas' blond bangs out of his eyes. His hand found it's way into Roxas' hair and he ran it through the soft spiky hair a couple of times before resting it on the dark bruise on the boy's neck.

The two boys stayed that way till Kairi returned. He placed the bucket of water by him and scurried away to let Axel tend to Roxas in piece. Axel ripped one of the many blankets to shreds and soaked them in the water. He gently rubbed the wet cloth over Roxas' face before laying it across his forehead.

When the sun started to set Kairi came back and sat next to Axel, "What's wrong wit him?"

"He caught the flu and I doubt the bite's making it any better." Axel's emerald eyes never left Roxas' face. Kairi reached out a tiny hand a placed it over one of Roxas', "I think he has to go back to the Outterlands for a while."

The young girl looked up at her brother and smilled, "But he's going to get better and come back right?"

"Right Kairi. Now go to bed." Kairi stood up kissed Axel on the cheek and walked farther back in the cave.

When Axel knew Kairi was a sleep he stood up picked Roxas up and carried him outside. He looked around to make sure no one was around before he started his journey to the Outterlands.

It was close to midnight when Axel reached his destination. He carefully layed Roxas on the porch and whispered, "I'll come back for you." Before banging on the front door of the big house and ran.

The front lights turned on and the door opened reviling a man who had graying hair, "Yes? Who is..Roxas?" Braska knelt down to his grandson and look around. He could swear he saw something red run into the forest.


	2. Black Shit

Roxas awoke with a pounding headache. When it started to subside he tried to sit up but was stopped by a hand pushing him back down.

"Don't move. You're very sick." A kind voice said above Roxas. He obeyed and snuggled more into the blankets feeling his eyes tart to close.

When the blond's eyes opened again he heard voices on the other side of the closed door that lead into the hall.

"I think he's been in Canta Forest. He has a Lycathrop mark on him."

"That's not possible; humans can't leave that forest once they enter and Lycathrops don't let their pry just get away."

"Well if he's here then one of those discussing creatures are bound to find there way here and get him Braska you should go. If anything were to happen to you then this village would suffer."

"I can't leave my grandson to suffer. I'll risk my own life to make sure nothing happens to my family."

Roxas was confused. What was a Lycathrop and why was he in danger? Before he could get up the door opened and Braska walked in with Auron right behind him. Both had a curious look on their faces. Everyone in the room was lost in their own thoughts for a few moments till Braska spoke.

"Roxas you have been sleeping for two days. How do you feel?

"F-fine Grandfather." Not being able to keep his curiosity to himself anymore the young boy asked, "What's a Lycathrope?" Roxas sat up and rested his back against the head bored.

Braska opened his mouth but before he could speak Auron interrupted him, "There something to be feared. They have the looks of a normal human but the instincts of a wolf. With that they can shift from man to beast at will." He took a step closer to Roxas and looked at him in the eye, "IF you are ever bitten by one there's a chance that you'll go through a horrible transformation and become one of those beast."

Roxas viably shivered at that. But never broke eye contact with his uncle. But that didn't last long because he suddenly got lightheaded and felt something start to crawl up his throat. Needless to say he barfed. The stench was horrible and it was black as tar. The pain was so unbearable that Roxas started to scream.

"Dear God it's true." Braska's face paled, "Roxas did you get bitten?" The blond just nodded. His throat was sore and it felt like it was on fire. The bed sank behind him and a hand started to rub his back, "I'm sorry Roxas, but you can't go home now."

Roxas turned and looked at his grandfather with big blue eyes. He looked scared, "What?" His voice was barley above a whisper but both men could hear him.

"Lycathropes are meant to stay in Canta Forest. They are to dangerous to be let lose." Braska studied his grandson's face and saw worry in his eyes.

"I won't be able to see my family or friends again?"

"No."

There was a sharp pain in Roxas' gut and he doubled over and grunted in pain. White spots danced behind his eyes. The pain in his stomach started to spread throughout his entire body. Roxas' body started to convulse. Auron cursed and pushed Roxas flat on his back. Braska stood to the side of the bed and started to chant an ancient prayer.

There was a loud crash down the hall followed by heavy thumps that were coming closer to the door. The door flew open and a familiar redhead sashayed into the room wearing his signature smirk.

Roxas looked into those green eyes and blacked out.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel never ventured far after he left his blond. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Roxas would go through his first change and Axel didn't want him to go through it with a ignorant human, he might get hurt.

He spent the majority of the time stalking around the property and exploring the nearby forest. He found some good places to hunt but never killed anything. The redhead wanted to save the helpless animals for Roxas' first hunt.

It was close to the end of the third day and Axel was napping under the shade of an oak tree when he heard screaming coming from the house. Axel knew it was Roxas.

Axel ran towards the house at full speed. He tried the front door but it was locked. By now the screaming stopped and the silence made the redhead think that something happened to his mate. Trying not to panic Axel sprinted to the yard and found the biggest rock he could, went back to the house and chucked the rock at one of the windows closest to where he heard the screaming came from.

Once in the house Axel tried to control himself and walked calmly into the room. The first thing Axel saw was the terrified blond. He was being forced on his back by a buff middle-aged man.

When Axel saw Roxas lose contentiousness he sprung into action. He pushed the man off of his mate and growled at him till the man backed off. He flipped Roxas on his stomach and rubbed his back.

"Who are you?" A quiet voice said on the other side bed. Axel lifted his head to regard the other man in the room. He was old and had long graying hair.

Before Axel could answer Roxas woke up screaming in agony. He arched up so he was on his hands and knees. A small bulge was starting to form where the blond's spine should have ended and his ears started to get more pointed. Axel carefully removed Roxas' clothes but left his boxers on.

When Roxas' screams died down Axel answered Braska's question, "I'm his mate."

Just as the words left his mouth Axel was pulled from Roxas and shoved against a wall. He was pinned between the wall and the middle-aged man, "So you're the one who did this." He stated more then questioned and gestured to Roxas with his free hand.

Roxas was still on his hands and knees but they were now formed into something that looked like paws. He had a bushy tail coming out of one of the legs of his boxers and large fuzzy ears.

Braska was at Auron's side and tried to pry him off the redhead, "This is not the time Auron. We need to get Roxas out of here and he's the only person who can help."

Auron released Axel but before Axel could move he was punched in the gut and doubled over in pain, "I never want to see your face again." Auron growled in Axel's ear before grabbing Braska by the arm and guiding him out of the room. Once they were gone Axel went around the room and gathered Roxas' scattered clothes then went back to the bed and petted the now sleeping wolf in the bed.

Roxas woke up when he felt the warm hand on his head. He tried to stand but failed. Axel laughed a little before picking the blond creature up and started to walk outside, "It'll take yea a while to get your hunting legs." Roxas just whimpered in reply.

When Axel made it to a small clearing in the woods he gently placed Roxas in the dirt. The young wolf didn't move for the longest time. He kept his head on the ground in between his front paws. Axel's heart melted at the sight.

"Roxas," Said blond didn't move or gave any sign that he hard Axel speak but he continued anyway, "I'm sorry if your upset but I'm not sorry for what I did." The wolf at Axel's feet started to growl at him, "Look, I know this is all new to you but it was the only thing I could do to make you stay with me."

Roxas didn't like that. He stood up on wobbly legs and growled at Axel, "That's it! I can't stand you! What makes you think you can just ruin my life like this?" The fur on his back was standing up and his teeth were bared, "Because of you I can't go home. I can't see my family ever again!" Roxas turned away from Axel and ran away as fast as he could. He stumbled a few times but after a few minuets Roxas was running faster then he has ever gone before. But Roxas didn't get far before his path was blocked by a red wolf.

"Move Axel!"

"And where will you go? If you come with me you can stay with me and Kari." The red wolf started to move closer to the blond one.

"Fuck you!" Roxas walked past Axel but before he got far Axel jumped on him and pinned his back to the ground with his teeth by the blonds jugular, "I know you don't believe me but you were meant to be mine. Come with me." Axel lifted his muzzle from the others throat. Now that he calmed down Roxas couldn't help but notice a faint sweet smell coming off of the red wolf.

Blue met green, "Can I ask you a question first? Why me? We don't even know each other."

Axel got off Roxas and started to slowly walk back to where the clearing where he left their clothes. When he was sure Roxas was following he started talking, "When you first saw me you can't tell me that you didn't notice it?"

Roxas just scuffed, "What? Who wouldn't notice someone with your hair or tattoos."

"Please I saw that look on your face. And you didn't have to follow me into the forest. In fact I told you not to!" Axel sent Roxas a cold glare.

They walked in silence till they got back to the clearing. Roxas didn't notice how far he'd ran. The blond was the first to kill the silence, "So...How do I change back?"

"It's easy, you just have to remember what it felt like being human. Remember what walking on two legs was like, having hands, you know things like that." To prove his pint Axel started to turn from his wolf form back into his human one. His hind legs changed first and his tail looked like it went up into his back. His muzzle sunk back in his face. Axel's red fur traveled up to the top of his head and formed into his long fiery hair.

Roxas blushed and looked away, when Axel was back to being human he was completely naked. Axel didn't look like he minded tho. He took to staring at Roxas with a goofy looking grin on his face, "Come on, give it a try."

Roxas looked down and pawed at the ground. He didn't want Axel to see him naked, "Can you give me some privacy first?"

Axel grin got bigger, "Aww what's wrong Roxy? Are you embarrassed to be in the buff?" Axel's response was a low growl, "We're both guys so it's nothing I haven't seen before. And what's the worst that can happen?"

The only thing Axel could here coming from the blond was a mumble of "Something bad always happens when someone says that." But he closed his eyes and imagined what Axel told him to and in a few seconds he could feel his body do exactly what happened to Axel's did. It felt weird but it didn't hurt as much as it did from when he turned into a wolf.

When the transformation was over Roxas hared a long whistle, "Nice view Roxy!"

"Shut the hell up!" Roxas' face felt as red as Axel's hair. He walked over to the pile of clothes and started to tug his boxers on with much protest from Axel, who was still naked. The blond threw Axel's clothes at said redhead, "Put something on. You making me sick." Roxas then tuned his back to Axel and continued putting his clothes on.

Axel's green eyes lit up with amusement as he walked up behind the other boy and dropped his arms around Roxas and pulled him into a lose hug. Roxas couldn't help but get a whiff of that sweet smell again, "How can you say that? Look your getting all hot and bothered right here." Axel's left hand traveled down Roxas' body and rested on the young boy's crotch. Roxas spun around and slapped Axel across the face. The smack was so loud that it echoed around them.

"Don't ever fucking do that again!" Roxas paused for a second, "You know what? On second thought, just stay away from me." With that said Roxas stormed out of the clearing never looking back.

When the blond was out of sight Axel started to tug on his clothes and said with a grin, "Looks like I got myself a feisty one." When he was done getting dressed the redhead slowly made his way in the same direction as Roxas.

~X~x~X~x~

It was night time when Roxas got to the only place he wanted to be. He wanted to go home and be nowhere near that stupid perverted redhead. Roxas walked up the path leading to the front door but before he could tough the doorknob there was a sharp tug on his shoulder pulling him back and turning him. Roxas was face to face with a pissed off looking Auron.

"I thought I told you not to come here." Auron said lowly.

Before Roxas could say anything the front door opened. The porch flooded with light. A pissed off Yuna stood in the doorway, "Roxas Micheal Jecht, where have you been? It's a school night!" Her eyes went to Auron, "And you! I sent you to get him from father's house days ago! Why haven't you contacted us?

Roxas saw his mother's anger shift from him to his uncle so he carefully snuck past Yuna and went up to his sister's room. The only source of light was a small nightlight that was across from the sleeping girl's bed. Roxas closed the door and walked over to Naminé. He sat next to her and stroked her golden hair. Out of all of his siblings Roxas always felt closer to his little sister. The girl stirred and turned so she was now facing him. Her bright blue eyes were open and she wore a wide smile.

"Your finally back." She whispered.

"Yes Nami."

Naminé sat up and gave Roxas a bone crushing hug, "Are you going to leave me again?"

Roxas smiled a little and rubbed her back, "I'm sorry."


	3. Heartless

When Axel saw the last light go off in the house he made his move. He crept up to the house and picked the front door lock with a pocket knife he bought earlier that day after Roxas ran away from him. When he heard a click singling the door was now unlocked he quietly entered the house.

Roxas' scent overflowed Axel's senses.

Green eyes brightened as they adjusted to the darkness of the house. Axel walked around the house looking for his blond. H noticed his scent getting stronger as he neared a door. When he opened it there was a flight of stairs going down and the lighting got darker the farther down they went. Axel started is descent down them, his green eyes glowing.

When he reached the bottom he saw two figures, one on a small twin bed and the other on a queen. Axel ignored the twin bed since Roxas' scent wasn't as strong there.

The boy in the bed looked a lot like Roxas but his hair was a different color and his scent wasn't as sweet. The redhead frowned and growled in the back of his throat.

The brunet's eyes opened and zoned in on the green orbs in front of him. He wanted to scream but Axel quickly covered his mouth, "Shh...I'm not here for you." Sora's seemed to calm a little, "Can you tell me where Roxas is?" Sora shook his head. He hasn't seen his twin in days. Axel sighed and let go of the boy and made a quick escape back up the stairs.

Back on the main floor Axel closed the basement door and pulled a nearby coffee table up to it for good measure. Once he was sure he was in the clear Axel continued his search.

Doing a quick once over of the first floor showed the redhead that Roxas wasn't there so he headed up to the second floor. He started to walk down the hall when he caught his mate's scent again. It was coming from a white door that was covered in butterfly and flower stickers. Roxas is in there. Axel opened the door as carefully as possible.

The room was small, Axel could easily get to the other side with only a few steps. The floor was clean with the exception of are supplies. On the bed there were two figures in deep sleep.

The male was on his back with his arms wrapped protectively around a small blond girl. Axel growled in frustration. To get to Roxas he'd have to remove the girl. But how? He couldn't hurt her; but the looks of it she was someone important. If he woke her up she'd probably scream.

Then Axel got an idea.

He would hide in the closet and grab Roxas when he or the girl got up. Roxas wouldn't be able to fight back if he wasn't expecting the redhead to already be there.

Axel was in deep thought and didn't notice a pair of blue eyes open. He turned and started to walk to the closet when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt, "Please," Said a quiet voice, "Help him."

Axel was turned to the small blond girl. Her big blue eyes were filled with tears. Axel couldn't help but to feel a little sympathy for her. She looked like Kairi. A quick glance to Roxas showed him that the blond boy was still in a deep sleep.

"He seems to be fi-"

"HE'S NOT!"

Axel was taken aback by the small girl's outburst. The room grew into an awkward silence before the girl started to cry. Now Axel couldn't stand to see his little sister upset so how could he let her look alike cry? He gently stroked her hair till her crys turned into soft whimpers.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of him." Axel reached past the girl and brushed Rroxas' bangs out of his hair. What would it take to make him see that they were meant for each other?

"Axel?" The redhead took his eyes off of Roxas and gave the girl a confused look. Her face heated up and she looked away, "Roxas told me everything." She brought her eyes back up to Axel and the sadness that was there was replaced by something like determination, "Hurt him and I'll hunt you down and kill you myself."

Axel's eyes widened and he had to cover his math to suppress a laugh. Was she serious? "So what's the name of the world's best huntress?"

"Naminé?" Axel and Naminé broke their eye contact and looked at a drowsy Roxas. He had his arms stretched above his head and his back was arched. Axel couldn't help but look at the blond's slim waist and a light trail of hair that disappeared in his pants. Roxas opened his eyes and frowned when he saw green eyes starring back at him, "Axel! Leave me the hell alone!"

Roxas shot out of the bed and pushed Naminé behind him. With his teeth bared at the intruder. Axel just stood there unaffected by Roxas. Naminé stood behind her brother with wide eyes and her hands were clenched in the back of Roxas' shirt. She didn't want him to start a fight.

"Roxas would you look at what your ding?' Axel gave a lazy wave towards the frightened girl, "You don't belong here anymore." Roxas backed off and turned to look at his sister. She was terrified.

With a sigh Roxas looked back at Axel, "Do I have to stay with you?" He could never forgive Axel for what he did to him.

Axel's eyes narrowed, "That's not funny Roxas. You know nothing about our world." Axel advanced towards the other male and pushed him down on the bed. Naminé's presents completely forgotten. Axel bend down so his mouth was by the now fading bruise he left, "Who knows what kind of creature will eat you up." The taller man stood up and was by the door in a blink of an eye, "You can come with me or die."

"Roxas," The small voice brought Naminé's presents back to the two guys, "Please go with him." Roxas felt a tug at his heart from the sight of his younger sister.

He looked away from her and back at Axel, "Can I at least say goodbye to my family?" Axel gave him a small nod and walked out of the room. Roxas faced his sister, "Nami, I'm so sorry."

Naminé pulled her brother towards her and buried her face in his shirt, "P-promise me that you'll come visit." She pulled away, tears were running down her pail face but she had a smile on her face.

Roxas bend down and kissed her forehead, "I promise I'll always come back when you need me." with that Roxas left the room and walked down the hall towards his parents room. Axel followed close behind him. Roxas opened the door it was dark and the only noise was the sound of his father's snoring.

The young boy approached his parents bed and knelt beside his mother. Yuna was on her side and her hair was falling in her face. Roxas brushed it behind her car and saw her sleeping face.

All of Yuna's stress from the day vanished on her sleeping face. Roxas felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of how much his mother would worry over his disappearance. After a few moments Roxas stood up and kissed his mother on the cheek and left the room.

"So ready to leave yet?" Axel appeared on Roxas' left side. He put hi arm around the short boy's shoulder only to have it shrugged off.

"No. I want to see my brothers and get some things." Roxas walked down the stairs and towards the door that lead to the basement. His eye twitched at the sight of the table in front of it and glared at Axel who just shrugged and him. Roxas huffed and moved the table out of his way, "Stay up here and don't wake anyone up." He started walked down the stairs.

Axel scoffed, "Just hurry up I want to get back to the den before Kairi wakes up." Roxas mumbled a "whatever" and opened the door.

He was surprised to see the lights on. He could hear Sora's voice, "Cloud I'm serious! Wake up!" Roxas quickly made his way down the stairs and saw his twin shaking his half awake older brother and screaming in his ear.

"Sora what are you doing to Cloud?"

Sora stopped what he was doing and starred blankly at his twin, "Roxas! What happened? Where's that creep?" The brunet ran over to the blond and almost knocked him over with a bone crushing hug.

Roxas some how managed to push Sora off of him, "First of all Sora, quit screaming. Secondly, that so called 'creep' came to pick me up because-"

"You actually know him? Who is he- OUCH!"

Sora was shut up by a hit to the back of his head, supplied by Cloud of course, "Will you shut the hell up!" Cloud turned his attention to Roxas, "So is this guy your boyfriend or something?"

Roxas felt his face heat up. His brothers were the only people who knew about his sexuality. His parent's wouldn't approve of it, "Shut up Cloud! You don't know what's going on."

A grin went across Cloud's face and he placed his hands on his hips and leaned foreword so his face was leveled with Roxas', "Well then Roxas enlighten me." Sora stood to the side of his brothers and was at a loss of words for once.

"H-he's..." Roxas didn't know what to tell them. He damn well wasn't going to tell them that he was now a Lycathrop or that Axel was the one responsible for it.

Cloud stood back up, "Oh I get it now. Your running away together! So is he the prince of some faraway kingdom and you can't be together or something?" Roxas punched his brother in the arm and made his way over to the closet to grab a duffel bag and started throwing random clothes in it. Cloud and Sora's jaws dropped, "You can't mean that I was right?"

Roxas zipped up the bag and glared at them, "Yes Cloud you were right." He pushed pasted his brothers but before he could make it to the stairs his wrist was grabbed and he was spun around to face Sora.

He looked upset, "Roxas you know you don't have to do this!"

Roxas adverted his eyes, "Yes I do."

"Bullshit! You can't even look me in the eye." Sora put his hands on both of Roxas' shoulders and started to shake him, "Roxas don't go! You'll regret it!" Roxas shook his had and pushed his brother off of him and made his way back up to Axel.

~X~x~X~x~

The duo got to the edge of the forest when the moon started to lower. It would be morning in a few hours. Nether Axel or Roxas have spoken since they left the Jecht house.

Before they could walk into the forest Roxas hesitated and took a few steps back. Axel gave him a questioning look. When he saw the sad look in blue eyes Axel got a sudden feeling of helplessness. He could deal with a crying little girl but a teenaged boy?

When they made it into the forest Axel stopped Roxas, "We can't go any farther tonight."

Roxas glanced over at the redhead and shrugged, "Whatever. But didn't you want to get back to Kairi?"

"Unless you want to change into a wolf and run like hell to avoid the Heartless. Damn those things are horrible. And to tell you the truth I'm tired so looks like we're camping for the night." Roxas looked around and tried to find one of these 'Heartless' but threes and wild flowers were the only things around them. It surprised the blond how well he could see with the full moon as the only source of light, "Enjoying the night vision?" Roxas only nodded his head. He felt like he was seeing in HD. Axel chuckled and snuck up behind the unsuspecting blond. When he was practically on top of him Axel pounced on him.

The two of them tumbled to the ground and Roxas landed on top of his attacker with his face buried in the redhead's chest. The sweet smell filled his noise and he couldn't help but feel his body catch on fire from it. He jumped when he felt a large hand on the small of his back. Axel's other hand found it's way under Roxas' chin and lifted it up so their faces were inches apart. Blue eyes slowly started to close. He didn't know what came over him, as much as he hated the taller male he felt the need to be closer to him. It had to be that smell.

Right before their lips could meet a sound came from the bushes that were next to them. Roxas pulled away from the man underneath him and crawled away from the intruder. A frustrated Axel stood up and walked towards the bush and giving it a hard kick. A squeak came from the bush and a black puddle crawled out from under it. The puddle started to form itself into something that resembled an overgrown ant. Axel growled while he started to strip, "Damn Heartless." When Roxas saw what Axel was doing he blushed and buried his face in his knees so he wouldn't see the other man naked.

When Axel was fully changed he charged at the Shadow Heartless and dug his teeth in its throat. When he tasted the bitter taste of it's blood he let go of it and started to claw at its torso with his front claws. When he felt the body go limp he steped back and watched as the creater slowly started to disinagrate and leave a heart behind that slowly raised in the night sky.

The wolf made his way over to the boy and nudged him with his muzzle till Roxas looked up at him. Roxas gasp at the sight of Axel. His fur was clumped together in places and he was covered in black blood. The blond didn't know what came over him but he was worried about Axel, "Did you get hurt?" He extended his left hand and ran it through the red wolf's fur checking for cuts.

Axel shook his head and licked Roxas' cheeks -to which Roxas grimaced to- "I'm fine. Now go to sleep. If anymore Heartless come around I'll be here to protect you." The red wolf walked in circles and laid down and motioned with his head for Roxas to come closer. The blond numbly did what ther other wanted. When he was close enough Axel moved his head till it was by Roxas' shirt sleave and pulled him down till he was practically laying on top of Axel again.

Axel seemed happy with it and closed his eyes to sleep. Roxas tried to sleep but his mind was overflowing with questions.


	4. Birthday Girl

Roxas woke when he realized his furry pillow was gone. He sat up on the cold ground. It was early morning and the sun was barely up, "Stupid jerk." The blond mumbled while rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked around his surroundings and found Axel's clothes were still scattered around. Roxas huffed before he got up and started to collect the clothes so he could throw them in his duffel bag. When he got to the jeans he noticed something heavy in one of the pockets. Digging around in the pants Roxas found a pocket knife, grinning at his new found weapon Roxas placed it in on of his back pockets. He also found a pack of clip-on hair bows. He put the bows back in the pants threw them in his bag.

Roxas looked around the area and tried to find a way out of the forest. If Axel was just going to leave without a word then why should the blond wait for him? He decided to travail in the direction the sun was rising in. Grabbing his bag Roxas was just about to leave when he heard something coming towards him.

Freezing in place Roxas felt his heartbeat speed up. He didn't know anything about this forest let alone what dwelled in it. Large blue eyes stared in the general direction where the noise came from. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as the lesser of two evils walked through the brush.

Axel had gotten the dried blood out of his fur and in his mouth was a dead rabbit. He walked up to Roxas and dropped the dead animal by his feet, "When was the last time you ate something?" Roxas didn't answer and gave the rabbit a disgusted glare. Axel sighed, "Well if you don't eat it then I just wasted precious travailing time by hunting for you."

Now Roxas felt guilty. He didn't like the wolf one bit but the thought of Kairi being alone in the forest didn't sit right with him. If it was Naminé he wouldn't have even slept through the night, "We should go." But the blond's stomach didn't agree with that statement and chose that time to rumble. Roxas' face flushed and he managed to stutter, "I-it's raw. How do you expect me to eat it?"

"What, you wanna cook it or something?" Roxas nodded his head. The thought of eating raw meat made him feel sick. Axel sighed again.

This made Roxas laugh, "Sighing so much this early in the morning is bad for your health."

"Didn't know you cared." Roxas shrugged and looked away, "Anyway, there's nothing we can do about cooking it unless you can breath fire or something." Roxas pulled the knife out of his pocket and sat down and started to cut the rabbit up, "And you were going though my thing's why?"

Roxas blushed. He forgot he went through the redhead's pants, "If you weren't such a slob and I didn't have to pick up after you then I wouldn't have to go through your things." Roxas replied and ate a slice of meat. He grimaced out of reflex but found he actually liked the taste. He pushed that thought aside and blamed it on not eating for half a week.

When he was almost done with his food Roxas realized that Axel hadn't eaten any thing. He cut off a piece and handed it to the wolf. Axel carefully grabbed it and dropped it on the ground so he could lick the juices off of the blond's hand. Roxas pulled his hand away as soon as the wolf's tongue liked him a couple of times. He wiped his appendage on his pants while Axel attacked the forgotten meat on the ground. Soon the two were done with their meal and started on their way deeper in the forest.

~X~x~X~x~

For the majority of their walk Roxas tried convincing Axel to change back into a human because he felt like a moron talking to a wolf. If anyone were to see them they would see a big red dog growling and barking at a boy who would reply. After the wolf convinced Roxas that there was no one in the forest the blond dropped the subject.

"Soo...Why the hair accessories?" Roxas asked after a hour of silence. Axel refused to change into his human form and was by the blond's side.

"They're for Kairi. I originally went to the Outterlands looking for a birthday present for her. You were the last thing I thought I'd find." Axel said and nudged Roxas' leg affectionately.

Roxas ignored the last comment, "When's her birthday?"

"Today."

"Oh." Roxas looked up at the sky. The sun was fully up now but it was still morning. When Axel saw the frown on his mate's face he reassured him that they would be at the den soon so she wouldn't be alone. But that wasn't what was bothering Roxas. He couldn't help but think that in a month Naminé would be turning eight as well.

"While we're on the subject of birthday's I think I should tell you that your going to be sixteen for a long time."

Roxas stopped walking and just stared at Axel like he was crazy, "Excuse me? When were you going to tell me this? And how long is a long time?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice." Axel said with a nervous laugh, "And a long time is...well...forever I guess. A human turned into a Lycathrop stops aging once their bit. Lycathrops stop aging once their bodies are mature. I stopped aging at twenty-six and I recently stopped aging. We die if someone kills us or if we get really sick."

"So your pretty much a pedophile." Roxas was trying not to let what Axel just told him bother him. Axel looked away and after a moment of awkward silence Roxas asked, "So is there any other weird things I should know?"

Axel started walking again and didn't start to talk again till he knew the blond was following him, "Well you can now...umm...how do I put this...?"

"Will you just spit it out!" Roxas was starting to get frustrated with Axel's stuttering.

"Don't rush me! I'm trying to think of a way to tell you you can get knocked up without you freaking out on me!" The wolf blurted without thinking.

Roxas blushed. He tried not to freak out but that was just imposable! "Your kidding right?" The wolf just shook his head, "But it's not possible!"

"Our kind is rare and a female of our kind is even more rare. We evolved over the centuries so the submissive can conceive."

"Well we don't have to worry about me getting knocked up." When the wolf gave the boy a questioning look Roxas continued, "For starters we're never having sex. And why can't you be the submissive?" The wolf's face dropped and he quietly walked a few yards not looking at Roxas. The boy knew Axel was trying to guilt him but it wouldn't work. Roxas despised him and was only going with him because he had nowhere else to go.

The rest of their walk was silent with the exception of Roxas asking a few questions here and there about the surroundings that Axel usually gave one word answers to.

When the sun was at it's highest point Axel perked up a bit and started walking a bit faster. His bushy red tail started wagging. He gave out a long howl in a happy greeting. The reply came from about a mile ahead of them and it was deeper then what Roxas guessed what Kairi would sound like.

Axel pranced around to Roxas and bit on his pant leg, "Hurry up!" And pulled the blond a few steps before he let go and ran off into the distance with Roxas sprinting close behind him. In moments the two were standing in front of Kairi and a tall silver haired man, "Riku! What are you doing here?"

"Hey Axel. I just dropped by to wish Kairi a happy birthday and noticed you weren't here. What kind of brother are you?" Riku said in a joking manner. Both boys laughed at the lame attempt of a joke. The tall man regarded Roxas with a small smile, "So you must be Axel's mate. I'm Riku. I practically take care of these two." Riku stuck his hand out.

Roxas took the extended hand and they shook, "Roxas. And I'm not his mate, I just have no where to go." The blond added dryly.

Riku's friendly smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown. He glanced over at the siblings who wondered off so they could spend some time together. Kairi was sitting on Axel's back and scratching behind his ears. Roxas noticed that Kairi was wearing his red hoodie that he left there. The young girl was practically swimming in hit.

"Did you know they were banished from their pack." Riku's said in a cold voice. Roxas looked away from the siblings and gave Riku his full attention, waiting for an explanation, "Their father was the pack leader. Our current leader, Xemnas, killed him and his mate so he could rule. The pack wouldn't take nice to killing kids so he kicked them out and threatened to kill anyone who makes contact with them."

Roxas' breath caught in his throat, "You said 'Our' does that mean you're a Lycathrop and part of that pack?" Riku nodded, "So why are you here?"

Riku's blue-green eyes left Roxas' and he looked over at the siblings, Axel now had Kairi on her back and was liking her face trying to clean it of dirt, "I don't give a fuck about Xemnas. Reno's the only leader I'll ever listen to. And besides me and Axel grew up together, we're practically brothers."

"Was that Axel's father?"

"Yes. He's where Axel get's his looks from. He has his mother's eyes tho." Roxas looked away from Riku and examined Axel a bit. Kairi noticed the two boys looking at them and started to wave at them so they would come join her and her brother. Riku rushed over and picked the young girl out of Axel's reach and placed her on his shoulders. Kairi squealed out in joy. A huge smile plastered on her face as she tried to get back to her brother while Riku did everything he could to keep her on him.

Roxas stood on the sidelines. He felt like he was intruding on something privite that no one was supposed to see. The blond suddenly wanted nothing more then to go back home and see his family. He missed how his brothers used to fight, how overprotective his mother was, having tea parties with Naminé, he even missed is uncle's weird way of giving advise. His eyes started to cloud over with tears.

Axel turned to the blond to make him join in the fun but when his eyes landed on Roxas he felt guilty. He knew what Roxas was crying over. He quickly separated from his family, with some protest from his little sister, and disappeared into the den for a few minutes. When he reemerged he was back in his human from with a fresh outfit on. The redhead knelt in front of the crying boy and trapped one of his hands in his two. The blond's eyes were covered by his bangs. Roxas jolted when he felt the contact and tried to pull his hand away but Axel had a firm grasp around his wrist.

"Look at me." When Roxas didn't look at him Axel tugged on his hand a bit so he stumbled closer to the redhead. Axel pulled Roxas into a hug and his face was buried in the younger boy's stomach. Without thinking Roxas wrapped his arms around the redhead's shoulders so he could absorb some comfort. Riku had a small smile on his face as he pulled Kairi into the den so the two boys could have some time alone, "Roxas you have to cheer up. You can't change what happened." Axel mumbled into the blond's shirt.

"How do you expect me to get over it so fucking fast?"

Axel stood up and grabbed Roxas' chin with one hand and rubbed some dried tears off of his face. The redhead decided that Roxas looked cute when he cried but at the same time it was something he never wanted to see again, "Well it's not like you'll never see them again. We can easily sneak in the Outterlands. It's not like anyone will know what we are; with the exception of your uncle and grandfather." The taller man leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the top of Roxas' hair before he pulled away, grabbed Roxas' forgotten duffel bag and walked into the den.

Roxas was frozen in place for a few minuets willing his emotions to calm down. He was starting to get mixed feelings for Axel. He hated him for what he did. He was starting to like him because of the way the redhead treated him. And that god damn smell made him feel hot when he was close to him. When he came to the conclusion that his hatred for the redhead was the strongest he wiped his face and retreaded to the den with everyone else.

"I love them big brother!" Kairi screamed and clung onto Axel's midsection with a pack of bows were in her hand. Axel smiled and patted her on the head. Kairi peered over her brother's side and saw Roxas enter. She let go of the redhead and ran towards the blond, "Roxy did you see the present big brother got me?" She stuck the gift in Roxas' face and he could feel his eyes cross.

"They're lovely Kairi." He pushed her hand down and rubbed the ache from his eyes.

Riku picked the birthday girl up and spun her around a few times before planting a kiss on her cheek and putting her back down, "It's getting late I should get going before the Heartless come out." He gave a final wave before he disappeared.

Kairi pulled on Roxas' hand till she got his attention, "Can you put these in my hair for me?" Her eyes got really big and she gave him the best pleading face she could muster. Roxas sighed and nodded his head and grabbed the bows out of her hand. The girl grabbed his free hand and dragged him closer to the mouth of the cave so Roxas could use the remaining sunlight to see properly.

Roxas grabbed sections of Kairi's hair and started to braid it. Axel couldn't help but smile at the cute scene playing out in front of him. He hoped to whatever forces out there that the young blond would get out of his depression and learn to love him and one day start a family.

~X~x~X~x~

"No fucking way." Roxas was standing beside a large bed with his arms crossed across his chest. Axel had taken Roxas to the den and showed him a trap door hidden behind a couple of boulders. The trap door led to a passage that had three doors. The door at the end of the hall was pointed out to be the bathroom and the two other doors on ether side of the hall were the bedrooms. Axel pulled Roxas towards the door on the right side of the passage. The redhead calmed it as 'their room'.

Axel huffed and sat on the edge of the bed. He stripped his shirt off and Roxas was trying his best to ignore the smell that surrounded him and not look at Axel's naked torso, "We're just going to sleep, nothing else. You didn't complain last night." Axel said with a grin as he started to take his pants off. The blond flushed even more and turned so his back was now facing the redhead, "Relax Roxas. I'm used to sleeping naked but if I'm going to leave my boxers on just for you."

That didn't help the blond at all and his poster stiffened. He didn't want to sleep in the same bed as Axel. Last night was an exception for the fact that he had to sleep out in the open with monsters walking around, "Why can't I sleep in Kairi's room?"

Axel blinked at the tense back in front of him, "Because her bed's to small for the two of you. And besides your my mate so you sleep with me." When Roxas didn't move from his spot Axel reached over and grabbed the small blond who yelped as he was pulled backwards and into the others chest. Roxas' nose was assaulted with Axel's smell and the blond could do nothing but try to squirm out of the redhead's grasp, "What's wrong?" Axel asked next to Roxas ear. Roxas blush darkened.

"N-notihng. Do y-you wear cologne by...by any chance?" The small boy managed to stutter.

The grin on Axel's face widened and he started to rub one of his hands up and down Roxas' stomach and chest making the blond shudder, "No I don't. Why Roxy, do I smell good to you?" He purred in the others ear. Roxas shook his head and clenched his eyes closed. Axel released the smaller boy and scooted to the other side of the bed and crawled under the blankets, "It's just pheromones telling you that your body want's me."

Roxas tried to get off of the bed as soon as Axel said that. There was no way in hell he wanted that bastard. But before he could fully stand the redhead grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down till he was laying awkwardly on the bed, "Just calm down and go to sleep. It's been a long day." Axel settled himself in a comfortable position before he pulled Roxas closer to him and pulled the blankets over him before falling asleep with his arm wrapped around the blond's waist. Roxas tried but couldn't get out of Axel's hold. He finally gave up and curled into himself and fell asleep.


	5. Where are you?

It had been a week since Roxas came to live with the wolf siblings. He still slept in Axel's bed but he made himself a barrier out of extra pillows and blankets to separate them. Somehow when he woke up in the morning, he would find himself on Axel's side of the bed in his arms. The blond would yell at him for grabbing him in his sleep but Axel would calmly tell him that he was crying out and the only way to get him to stop was to hold him.

On the morning of the eighth day, Roxas woke up by himself on his side of the bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before he got up. The cold floor that met his bare feet woke him up in an instant. Roxas looked around the room quickly to make sure Axel wasn't being a creeper and hiding in a corner or something. When Axel's presence wasn't detected in the room, Roxas started to strip. Once he was naked and digging through the large dresser for clothes to wear for the day, the door burst open and Kairi skipped in.

"Roxasss," She sang in a voice that reminded the blond of how his sister used to call him, "Axel told me to- Oops sorry!" The girl quickly covered her eyes and turned her back. Both her and Roxas' faces were beat red. "A-axel told me to wake you up." Kairi left the room and closed the door behind her.

Roxas was petrified. He stared at the door for a good five minutes before he shook his head and continued to dig for clothes.

Fully dressed, Roxas emerged from the room and made his way up to the main floor of the den. He saw Kairi standing right outside the mouth of the cave. She was looking away from him and her eyes seemed to be fixed at something in front of her. The blond made his way up to her and was trying to see what she was looking at. Over the course of the week, the two of them had gotten close. Kairi saw Roxas as a new brother while Roxas saw the little girl as another Naminé.

"What are you looking at?"

Roxas' voice startled Kairi and she jumped a little, "Oh, good morning." She said with a big smile that the blond returned. Kairi's smile faded and she frowned a bit. "Big brother went hunting about an hour ago and hasn't returned yet. He never goes far so he should be back soon." Her eyes left Roxas' and went back to the scenery.

Axel never did come back.

~X~x~X~x~

Kairi was getting restless. She kept pacing around the mouth of the cave and sometimes wondered out to walk the parameter of the field that surrounded the den. Every horrible scenario she could think of was flashing in her mind.

As much as he didn't want to be, Roxas was worried. If something happened to Axel, he knew, he wouldn't be able to take care of Kairi. Roxas also felt somewhat responsible for the redhead's disappearance. For days now, Axel's been asking Roxas to go on a hunt with him. The blond would flat out reject the offer because he didn't want to be alone with the older man. There was also the fact that Roxas never wanted to change into his wolf form; it made him feel less human. In fact, he hasn't changed forms since his first change.

Roxas wished Axel had woken him up today like he did every morning; maybe if he did then Roxas would have gone with him and he would know what the hell was going on.

The sun started going down and dusk was setting in. Kairi had climbed up a tree and was keeping watch for her brother while Roxas went back to his and Axel's room. He walked the length of the room a few times, trying to figure out what he was going to do. It was almost dark out so the Heartless would be out soon. He knew Axel would be able to handle them but what if he was seriously injured?

The blond buried his face in a pillow and let out a scream of frustration. It wasn't till Roxas took a deep breath that he realized he had Axel's pillow in his grasp. He sat up and threw it across the room. He couldn't deal with the missing man's scent at the moment. Roxas stormed out of the room to get away from the smell.

When he got back to the main part of the den, he saw Kairi sitting at the entrance. The sun had gone down so the Heartless should be out soon, if not now. Roxas was at a loss of what to do. He wanted to go and find out what happened to Axel but he didn't want to leave Kairi by herself. Plus, he didn't know his way around the forest. Axel was the only family the girl had. Over the course of the week, Roxas noticed Kairi was always at her happiest when her brother was in his wolf form and playing with her.

Swallowing his fear, Roxas stripped and transformed. It didn't hurt him like the last time. He slowly padded his way towards Kairi and nudged her cheek with his muzzle. The girl gave a weak laugh and wrapped her small arms around the wolf's neck. Roxas laid down with Kairi still hanging on him and the two fell asleep.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas awoke a few hours later to a scratching sound. Kairi didn't seem to hear the noise as she slept peacefully with her face buried in the wolf's side. Without disturbing her, Roxas scanned his surroundings. At first he didn't see anything but then something ran across the field outside the cave.

It was tall and black and at the top of its head was a purple cap. It was a Heartless. The blond stayed as still as he could. He didn't know what to do. He had no idea what it could do.

To Roxas' dismay, Kairi started to whimper in her sleep. The Heartless heard her and turned to them, its yellow beady eyes zeroing in on them. The wolf felt a chill go down his spine. Kairi's cries started to get louder and her fingers twisted in the wolf's soft fur, making Roxas wince.

The Heartless was practically on top of them now. Roxas knew he had to get Kairi out of there. Roxas nudged her face a couple of times but it didn't seem to affect her. The Heartless was advancing on them when it suddenly stopped and jumped, making hazes of purple fog come out from under it. As the fog crept up on the two, Roxas quickly angled himself in an awkward position so Kairi's face was in his side and his tail wrapped around the back of the girl's head to protect her from the fog.

Roxas tried to hold his breath but some of it crept up his nose and he started choke on the poison. Kairi started to wake up and struggled against Roxas' hold. "K-kairi, don't move." Roxas chocked out. The girl seemed to sense the worry in the boy's voice and calmed down a bit. Roxas could feel his eyes roll in the back of his head and everything went dark.

Kairi felt the wolf's body go limp. She lifted her head when she knew the poison was gone and started to shake the unconscious boy but he didn't respond. His breathing was shallow and it looked like it hurt every time he inhaled. Tears started to fall down the girl's face. She heard a growl followed by a squeak. She turned to the commotion and her heart jumped to her throat. Her brother was finally back!

Axel had the Heartless pinned to the ground. There was a flash and the black-purple creature turned silver. The red wolf backed off a bit and waited for the Heartless' shield to go down. It got back onto its feet and wondered around Axel a bit, trying to taunt him.

"Kairi, get Roxas out of here!" Axel growled at her. Kairi nodded and quickly got to her feet. She picked up the top half of the wolf and dragged him farther into the cave. When the red wolf decided that his mate and sister were far enough away, he turned his attention back to the creature. He circled it a few times till there was another flash and its shield went down. He attacked.

Every time he bit or scratched the Black Fungus, it would let out an annoying squeaking noise. When it jumped to release its deadly gas, Axel knocked it out of the air and made it land on its back. The wolf straddled the helpless creature and tore its throat out. Axel was pissed at the Heartless for what it did to Roxas. He wanted to torture it for hurting his mate but the time didn't call for it. He had to finish this fast.

When he saw the lifeless body disappear and its heart fly up in the sky, Axel went into the den to check on his sister. She was hunched over Roxas' still body, sobbing. The red wolf stood on the other side of his blond counterpart. He leaned down and started to lick at the others face and neck, trying to wake him up but it didn't work. Axel knew they would have to take Roxas to the forest healer.

The redhead knew he could get Roxas there but he didn't want to leave Kairi alone. "Kairi, do you want to go to see Fran with me?" The small girl didn't say anything and nodded her head, "Okay then, be a good girl and change forms. Be ready to run."

Kairi stood up and helped push Roxas on Axel's back, making sure he wouldn't fall off during the run. Then she went behind her brother so she could shift into her wolf form. The two left the safety of the den and sprinted into the forest. They didn't stop for anything. They passed a handful of Heartless who attempted to follow the Lycathrops but gave up when they couldn't catch them.

After running for miles, Kairi started to slow down. Her lungs burned and her joints ached but she knew she had to keep running. When the sun started to rise, the siblings stopped by a river to catch their breath and drink. Axel lowered Roxas on the edge of the river and noticed he had a fever.

Axel was starting to worry and wanted to get moving again but one look at his sister told him that he had to wait a bit longer. The poor girl could barely stand and she was panting so hard that Axel thought she would hyperventilate. "Do you want to stay here while I go see Fran?" The redhead asked.

"No, I wanna see if Roxas is okay!" It was the first time she spoke all day. Her voice was raspy from crying. Her blue eyes looked over the motionless wolf. It was obvious he was having trouble breathing. "Where were you?"

"A hunter was lost. He saw me and started to follow. I think he wanted me to bring him to a pack so he'd have something to hunt. I just couldn't lead him back to you guys." He cast his gaze down so he was looking at his paws.

"Oh..." Kairi was at a loss for words. She was glad her brother was alright but upset that this happened to Roxas. And the fact that there was a hunter in forbidden woods didn't make her feel any better.

They sat in silence for a few moments till Axel suggested they leave. Once Roxas was secured on Axel, they started to run again. It wasn't until the sun was at its highest point that Axel and Kairi made it to a clearing. The small area had a ring of different colored aster flowers along the parameter.

"Who goes there?" A tall female with white rabbit ears stood in the middle of the clearing. Axel tried to say something but, since he was still in his wolf form, all that came out was a growl. The woman turned to see who was there. Her dark eyes scanned the trio. Her voice was sharp and straight to the point. "Axel. Kairi. You haven't been here in a while. Who's your friend?" The siblings were no strangers to the Viera. They practically lived with her when they first left their pack.

Fran rushed over to the wolves and plucked the blond off of Axel. The redhead's posture relaxed a bit when he no longer had to balance Roxas. Fran waved her hand in a general direction behind her. "Go change. Your clothes are still in your old room." Axel and Kairi left Roxas in the care of the older woman and walked towards their old home. Once they were gone, Fran gently placed the wolf on the ground and walked towards a large oak tree. There was a rope tied on a low branch. She untied it and lowered a bag from the top of the tree. In the bag was an arrangement of potions. She placed the bag beside the blond and started to stroke the top of his head.

Axel was the first to come back. His hair was a mess and his shirt was inside out. He rushed over to his mate's side.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Fran asked.

"Poisoned by a Black Fungus."

Fran nodded and rummaged through her bag of potions. She pulled out two green bottles and a blue one and mixed them together in a big flask. "Tilt his head up and open his mouth." The redhead did and the Viera poured the cocktail down the wolf's throat. When it was gone, Axel placed Roxas' head in his lap. He could feel the blond's temperature slowly go down and he sighed in relief.

Kairi came back soon after and took a seat next to her brother. "He's going to be okay now right?" The siblings looked at the older woman who nodded back. A ghost of a smile made its way to Kairi's face and she leaned against her brother with her head on his shoulder. It had been a long twenty-four hours for her and exhaustion finally took a hold of her. She fell asleep leaning on Axel.

"You're staying for the night." The Viera pointed at Roxas. "He needs to rest." Fran said as she picked up the sleeping girl and walked away giving the two boys some privacy.

When the girls were gone, Axel fell on his back. He ached all over. Axel rubbed his left hand up and down Roxas' back while the other became a makeshift pillow for his head. "God damn, Roxas. What the hell were you doing?"

"...Axel...where the hell are you..." The redhead sat up so he was leaning on his elbows. Was Roxas dreaming about him? "Come back...can't care...Kairi." The redhead didn't know what to think. Should he be happy Roxas was thinking about him or upset that the boy only wanted him around so he didn't have to take care of Kairi? "Smell good." Now Axel was just confused. What kind of dream was Roxas having? And he never talked this much in his sleep. Axel was starting to think the blond was screwing with him.


	6. The Tree Nymph

Sora shot out of bed, screaming. His wide blue eyes darted around the room but saw nothing. Cloud was by his side in a second.

"Sora, what's wrong?" He placed his hand on Sora's shoulder. The young brunet just shook his head, trying to clear the tears from his vision. "Sora!" Cloud started to shake his younger brother, trying to snap him out of whatever nightmare he was still stuck in.

"I-it's Roxas!" Sora finally chocked out. "H-he's in danger." The small brunet dropped his head and started to sob. He leaned into the tall blond's body and clung to him like a little child.

What Sora saw scared the living shit out of him. Roxas was worried. What about? Sora couldn't tell. Then he couldn't breathe; it burned too much. He could feel his twin's lungs start to close up. Then he was swallowed up by darkness.

Cloud pulled his brother off of him so he could look at his face, "It's alright Sora. Nothing happened to Roxas." He said in a calm voice. He rubbed Sora's back, trying to calm him down.

~X~x~X~x~

"You believe me, don't you?" Sora was sitting crossed-leg on his little sister's bedroom floor, picking some lose strands of carpet.

Naminé sat across from him with a rare frown on her face. If Sora was right about Roxas being in danger then that meant Axel didn't keep his promise. She looked up at her older brother from the picture she was drawing. "I believe you."

"God, I wish he would have told us where he was going. Maybe we could help him then." Sora huffed.

Naminé looked back at her picture and said in a small voice, "I know where he is."

Sora's eyes grew big and he reached over to grab his sister's shoulders. "You knew? Why didn't you tell us?" The young girl winched from his volume. There was a yell from their father downstairs, telling them to quiet down.

"I trusted Axel."

"Who the fuck is Axel?" Sora yelled. This time, instead of Tidus yelling up at them, the door flew opened and revealed their uncle. He looked pissed.

Auron pointed at Sora. "You, shut up and don't swear around your sister." Sora gave his uncle a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head. The older man gave the young boy one last glare before he left, closing the door behind him.

When they heard their uncle go down the stairs, Naminé started talking, "He's the guy who took Roxas away."

"So he's the prince?" Naminé looked at her brother like he was insane. "Roxas told me and Cloud he was running away with some prince." Sora said like it was old news. The girl shook her head and asked Sora to bring Cloud to her room so she could tell them the story about what happened to Roxas.

~X~x~X~x~

Cloud stormed down to his room with Naminé and Sora close behind him. The oldest Jecht kid was fuming. He was pissed that his brother lied to him and was so irresponsible.

When the siblings were down in the basement, Cloud stomped over to his dresser and started to dig for something. He was victorious and pulled a key of his underwear drawer. The key went into the locked trunk at the foot of Clouds bed, which opened to reveal an arrangement of swords, daggers, and a pistol. "Naminé, what did you say this bastard looked like?" The blond boy said while stuffing a bag with weapons.

"I-I have a picture of him in my room." The small girl stuttered. Cloud told her to go get it and she ran back up the stairs.

Sora shifted, uncomfortably from one foot to the other, his eyes on the floor, "Do you really believe her?"

"Of course I do!" Cloud's attention went from his trunk to his brother. "Granddad told us the legends about that forest and he's one of the most trustworthy people I know. And he told us that Lycanthropes are the worst." When Sora showed no signs of believing Cloud, he continued. "What about what happened last night? You know something's up with him and this is all we have to go on."

"I don't wanna lose another brother though..."

Before Cloud could counter his brother's statement, Naminé skipped back down the stairs with two pieces of paper clutched in her hands. She slowly approached Cloud and handed the papers off to him. Sora looked over his brother's shoulder so he could see the drawings as well. The first one was a tall man with piercing green eyes with tattoos under them and spiky red hair, Sora remembered him from the night Roxas left. The second one was of a big red wolf with the same green eyes.

"The last one's a guess." Naminé looked at her brothers. Sora looked worried while Cloud looked determined.

Cloud grabbed his bag and started walking up the stairs. He turned around and looked at his younger siblings. "Don't worry, I'll bring Roxas back. Tell mom and dad the truth if you want." With that said the older Jecht kid left the house and ventured into Canta Forest.

He had been walking for about two hours and had made a few turns. He tried to make mental notes about where he was going, but, when he turned around, he didn't recognize anything.

Frowning, Cloud just shrugged it off and came to the conclusion that this forest was indeed magical. Getting back home was out of his power now. He shifted his bag so the weight would be distributed more evenly on his back and continued walking.

Soon after, Cloud heard a snap. He looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. And there he was. A big red wolf. As quietly as he could, Cloud slipped his bag off of his shoulders and started to rummage for a throwing knife.

Right before he was about to throw the knife at the beast, he had an idea. If I follow him he'll take me to Roxas. Cloud put the knife back and lowered himself, trying to make himself invisible.

A few hours later, Cloud was getting pissed. The wolf kept walking in circles! It was getting dark and, soon after the sun set, the blond lost track of the red wolf. He had to give up for the day. Not wanting to run into any unnecessary danger, Cloud pulled himself into a tree to sleep for the night.

~X~x~X~x~

"HEY GET UP!" A loud voice over Cloud yelled. Still half asleep, Cloud just grumbled and turned away from the noise. Too bad he forgot he was sleeping in a tree and rolled right off the branch he was on. "Serves you right." The voice wasn't as harsh this time and seemed to be amused.

Cloud rolled around in pain for a few moments till he was able to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was a tall brunet male with gray eyes, but there was something weird about his coloring. He had a faint green glow to him. "Who are you?" The blond managed to grunt.

"Well that's rude of you. I find you sleeping in my home and you demand answers from me?" The strange man placed his hands on his hips and bent over Cloud. "So Goldilocks, why were you in my tree?"

Cloud sat up and pushed the brunet out of his face. "I'm looking for Axel. He's a Lycanthrope." Cloud tried to hide his embarrassment; his statement would have made him look like a lunatic if he said it to anyone in town. He ran his hand through his messy hair to shake any debris from his fall.

"Axel...Axel..." The green man tapped his chin, thinking about where he had heard that name before. "Oh! He's Reno's son. Great pack leader, he was. Made a deal with me to protect my tree." He patted the tree trunk and gave a content sigh. His gray eyes then looked into confused blue. "So, why do you need Reno's son?"

Cloud stood up and brushed some stray dirt off. "That bastard stole my brother." He clenched his hands, blood welling under his short fingernails. "I'm here to kill him."

The brunet tasked at that. "Revenge is such an ugly thing. That's why Axel got banished, you know?" No, Cloud didn't know. After a moment of awkward silence, the stranger said, "Squall."

"What?" Cloud was convinced this man was crazy.

"My name. Don't you think it's only proper to introduce ourselves? I'm Squall. And you are...?"

"Cloud." The blond replied. He could care less about this freak. He needed to get going and find his brother. "Look, I really need to go." Cloud started to walk away but something caught his ankle. He fell. He tried to pull his leg to his chest but it wouldn't budge. The blond twisted to see behind him. His jaw dropped. A root grew out of the ground and twisted itself around his leg.

Squall just smiled. "You're going to get nowhere fast unless you have a Mystic with you. This forest doesn't like humans and fucks with their brains. It teleports humans to different parts of the forest at random so you'll always stay lost. Maybe, by chance, you'll find what you're looking for. If you want to go anywhere, you'll need my help. I need to see Axel, too. I'll be generous and take you with me."

Cloud started to claw at the root. He did not want to be here. By his logic, if this nutcase wasn't stalling him, he could have killed Axel by now and been at home with Roxas. "Let go! I don't need your help!"

~X~x~X~x~

Cloud hated his life so much. He found himself walking through the woods with Squall, who was some sort of tree nymph. The nymph was walking slightly ahead and, to the human's relief, wasn't talking.

Cloud, though, believed Squall about the forest being able to teleport people because, whenever he looked behind him, he could clearly see where they just were. "So are there any other weird things about this place that I should know about?" The blond asked.

After few moments, the nymph spoke, "Once the sun goes down, creatures called Heartless come out. They lack hearts and prey on living things that do. They'll steal your heart but no one knows what they do with it. You're lucky you were in my tree last night or they would have gotten you."

Cloud had begun to trust Squall but he had to say something stupid.

Cloud sighed and put his hands in his pockets to restrain himself from hitting the brunet.

"We're here!" Squall yelled over his shoulder so the blond would hear him. The two stood in a clearing with a cave that was hidden behind some bushes and low hanging branches. Squall walked up to the cave while Cloud lingered behind him, digging through his bag of weapons. When the nymph reached the cave, he walked in and yelled if anyone was home. No response came back. He went back to the blond's side. "No one's here." He scratched the side of his head. "Kairi's not even here. Something must have happened. We can stay here till they get back."

Now Cloud was worried. If something happened then that means Sora's dream was right. The blond closed his eyes and tried to remember what his brother had told him. Having a hard time breathing, a fast heartbeat, burning, and then darkness. The human opened his eyes and looked at the other male. "Is there any way to find out what happened?"

Squall nodded, walked towards the tree next to the cave and placed his hand on it. A light green glow formed between the bark and his hand while the green light around Squall intensified. A minute later, the brunet removed his hand and looked into Cloud's eyes. "A Black Fungus Heartless attacked here. It seems a young wolf was poisoned." Cloud's eyes widened. What if it was Roxas who got hurt? Was he dead? Squall saw the scared look. "They probably went to see Fran. She's the forest healer. If they got there fast enough then he should be fine." The nymph said to calm the human down.

He wasn't sure if the wolf was fine or not but he couldn't deal with a grieving human; he had other issues to deal with. His biggest problem was the pack Xemnas controlled. They were rampant under the poor leadership. Squall felt like it was time for the bastard to be taken down. But first he needed to convince Axel to help him.


	7. Instincts

There was fire everywhere. Roxas couldn't escape it. His whole body felt like he was caught in the flames. There was no way out of this hell and Roxas knew it. Just as he was about to give up hope, a cool relief came to him.

Roxas opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was black fabric that was on an unfamiliar bed. When the blond went to stand up, he noticed was that he was still in his wolf form. The next thing was that his limbs were too weak to support his weight.

The poor wolf fell to the floor with a loud bang. He whimpered at the sudden pain that shot up his side. When the pain subsided, Roxas quickly changed back into his human form and searched the room for some clothes. When he located a dresser, he quickly opened it and looked for something to wear. But then the door burst open, revealing Kairi.

Déjà fucking vu. He thought

Instead of turning away this time, though, a large smile grew on the young girl's face. She ran towards Roxas and jumped on him. The two fell to the ground. Kairi laughed, giving Roxas a tight hug. She mumbled into his bare chest how happy she was that he was alright and how worried she was, and didn't let go till the poor blond didn't have any more air in him. The girl got off of Roxas and ran out of the room, leaving the blond to finish dressing.

Now fully dressed, Roxas took a look at his surroundings. There were no windows; that meant the room he was in was underground but was lit by weird orbs floating near the ceiling. The room's coloring was dark. The blankets were black and the wood furniture was a dark oak. Even the clothing he found was dark. His shirt was a blood red while his pants were blue skinny jeans, though they were baggy on the small boy. Roxas noted the room faintly smelled like Axel.

For a second time that day, the door burst open but, instead of Kairi, Roxas was tackled to the ground by his redheaded mate. Axel buried his face in the blond's hair and inhaled the smaller boy's scent. "God, you had me so worried." Axel pulled away from Roxas and went in to kiss him but Roxas pushed Axel's face away.

"Where the hell were you?" Roxas pulled his hand away from the redhead's face only to bring it back and punch him in the jaw, making Axel get off him. "You were gone all fucking day! You had me worried that something happened to you-"

"You were worried about me?" Axel looked at Roxas with a look in his eye that sent a shiver down the blond's spine.

Ignoring the blush on his face, Roxas tried to bring the subject back his question, "Where were you, Axel?" Roxas stood up so he to look down at his mate with his arms crossed across his chest.

Axel couldn't help but laugh at the blond's stance. When said blond raised an eyebrow in question, Axel tried to stop his laughing. "You look like an angry wife who just caught her husband cheating." Roxas wasn't amused. "Your brother's here. He saw me and tried to follow me back to our den."

Roxas was at a loss for words. His brother was here! More importantly, his brother was here to bring him home! "Which one was it?" The blond finally managed to say. He was afraid that if it was his twin, something bad would happen to him. Roxas knew Sora hated the outdoors and had very little experience with fighting. Roxas would feel a little better if it was Cloud. At least the older blond could fight.

"The one with the funky Chocobo hair." Roxas relaxed a bit. Axel stood up to his full height and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "I won't let him take you away. Not after what just happened. God, Roxas, do you have any idea what you do to me?" Axel pushed Roxas on the bed and started to nip at the boy's neck while one of his hands held the blond's wrist above his head. His other hand found its way up the boy's shirt, feeling Roxas' warm skin.

Roxas squirmed under the redhead's touch. His body heated up wherever the older touched and it was driving him mad. "A-axel!" The blond managed to free his hand, placed them on the other man's shoulders and gave him a weak shove. "G-get o-off!"

The taller man gave the boy's neck another bite, causing a weak moan to escape Roxas, before he pulled away. His green eyes were tinged darker than usual but Roxas blamed the lighting. Axel freed the blond's wrist and snarled. "Why are you denying your instincts?"

"Instincts?" Roxas asked as he sat up and leaned agents the bed's headboard.

Axel rolled his eyes. "We've been over this, Roxas. You said you like my smell." The redhead paused. The blond nodded with a blush spread across his cheeks. He remembered the conversation they had over a week ago about how Roxas's attraction to Axel's smell was pheromones, but every living thing sent those out. It had nothing to do with instincts, right? Roxas asked Axel, who replied, "Well true, everything has pheromones. But don't forget what you are now. You're a submissive Lycanthrope." Axel leaned over and brushed Roxas' bangs away from his face to look into his blue eyes. "Your senses are heightened when you go into heat and you start to notice small things, like the smell and taste of your mate are more addicting."

Roxas's eyes widened. Heat? That meant he could get pregnant, right? The blond covered his ears and started to rock back and forth. He couldn't deal with this. The Heartless, the changing, and the fact that he was a submissive, everything! He just wanted to go home. Then Roxas remembered; Cloud was in the forest looking for him! But there was his grandfather and uncle. They would never let him go back.

"Roxas?" The blond froze. He looked up at Axel and the look he saw broke his heart. The redhead's green eyes looked tearful and his whole face was twisted in an upset look. That's when Roxas realized, as much as he hated it, Axel was the only stable thing he had left in his life. "Roxas, are you alright?" The redhead leaned over and rubbed the other's arms in a comforting way. When he felt Roxas relax a bit, he pulled away and started to get off the bed. A small hand on his shirt stopped him.

"Don't leave." Roxas whispered. Axel didn't say anything, just got back on the bed. He laid down and pulled the blond on top of him. Roxas buried his face in the redhead's chest and inhaled his scent. "How long will the heat last?"

Axel hummed in thought. "I'm not really sure. Every submissive I know usually yields to their instincts within a few days. To tell you the truth, you're the only submissive I know that's lasted this long."

"Oh." Roxas shifted on Axel's body, trying to find a more comfortable position. The blond's knee made contact with something hard, making the redhead grunt in pain. "I-I'm sorry!" Roxas went to move off of the man but Axel wrapped his arms around the small boy and pulled him close. Roxas whined and tried to get away. Axel's hold just tightened.

"You didn't want me to go so I don't want you to move." The redhead buried his face in blond spikes.

"But...but you're...ummm..."

"Hard?"

Roxas' face turned the same color as Axel's hair. "Umm...yeah..."

Axel chuckled and rubbed the blond's back. "It's fine. If you ignore it, it'll go away." The redhead gave a content sigh and tried to relax. The fact that his mate was so close to him and not fighting back was a major turn on.

They stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity till Roxas spoke. "Sea-salt." The blond pulled his face away from the other man's chest and looked down at his confused face. "Your smell. I couldn't figure out what it reminded me of but I just figured it out. You smell like Sea-salt ice cream." Roxas said in a proud voice.

Without even thinking, Roxas slowly lowered his face till he was only a few centimeters apart. The blond closed his eyes, succumbed to his instincts, and kissed the redhead. Surprised, the older man stayed as still as possible, hoping the boy wouldn't get spooked and pull away. Then he felt the boy's tongue trace the seam in between his lips and slowly pried them open. Axel eagerly opened his mouth and let Roxas dominate the kiss. To the blond's delight, the older man tasted just like he smelled. The redhead lowered one of his hands and gave Roxas' ass a squeeze, causing the blond moan in his mouth.

When Roxas pulled away, both men were breathless and their faces flushed. Axel leaned up to capture the blond's lips again but, before they could connect, a loud rumble came from Roxas' stomach. Axel's head fell back to the pillow and he started to laugh while Roxas quickly climbed off of him.

"Let's go get some dinner." Axel said as he got off the bed and left the room with Roxas following close behind. As they walked down the hall, Roxas looked around. The hall was much longer than the one at the den and had more doors then he cared to count. In between the doors, there were end tables with vases of different colored aster flowers. The orbs of light were floating on the ceiling, allowing some light for their footsteps.

Roxas almost jumped out of his skin when he felt Axel's hand grab onto his. He tried to relax when the redhead gave his hand a soft squeeze. The two fell into steep with each other. "Why are there so many flowers?" the blond asked.

The redhead stopped walking and picked a purple flower out of a vase. "No one knows why but the Heartless seem to despise these flowers." Axel twirled the stem in his fingers before he placed the flower behind Roxas' ear. "If you gather enough of them, the Heartless will stay far away from you." The redhead's hand slowly started to trace Roxas' ear. He suddenly stopped and said, "We should get going before Kairi and Fran think we died or something." He intertwined their fingers again and continued down the endless hallway in silence.

When they finally got out, Roxas was blinded by the sun. Instead of ending up in a cave, like he was used to, they were standing in the middle of a tiny clearing blanketed in aster flowers. In the distance, he saw Kairi talking to a tall woman with rabbit ears, who Roxas assumed was Fran. As the two men moved closer, the rabbit-woman turned around, her dark eyes staring at Roxas.

"So, you're up." She wasn't mad but, by how sharp her voice was, the woman sounded annoyed. Roxas nodded as he slowly started to sink into his mate's side, afraid of the intimidating woman. "That's good. Axel's been worried sick." Roxas looked up at said redhead but Axel shifted so the blond couldn't see his face. When Roxas' eyes shifted back to Fran, he noticed her expression softened. "There's something I want to talk to you about in privet." The last word was sharp again and she looked at Axel and Kairi.

Axel gave Roxas a hug that the blond awkwardly returned before Kairi climbed up his back and disappearing into the surrounding woods. When Fran couldn't see Axel's bright red hair anymore, she turned back to the small blond with a small smile. "You're very lucky to have him."

Roxas looked down at the ground, embarrassed. He sure didn't feel lucky but he hoped the Viera's words held some truth to them. "What makes you say that?" The blond kicked a rock and refused to look up at the tall woman.

"He cares for you deeply-"

"No, he doesn't! He's a selfish jerk!" Roxas screamed at her. "If he cared, he wouldn't have done this to me!" The blond subconsciously placed a hand on the place where Axel had bit him.

Fran grabbed the blond's hand off of his neck and rubbed it with her thumb. "Lycanthropes are known for acting before they think. You have to forgive him for little things like that every once and a while."

"Little? You think taking me away from my whole life is little!" He pulled his hand away and stuffed them in his pockets. Roxas knew he'd be a hypocrite if he denied he ever acted before thinking, seeing as he made out with Axel only moments ago; it made him shudder just thinking that he was becoming more and more like a Lycanthrope as the days went by. But why would she think it was alright to take a child from their life?

The Viera sighed and knelt to look at Roxas. "I don't have time for this bullshit; work out your problems with Axel later." After a brief pause, she spoke again. "Axel told me that you were going through heat." Roxas opened his mouth to ask her how he knew but Fran waved him off. "He can smell you just as well as you can smell him. Anyway, it won't go away till you two do something about it. And even though you're young, you can still carry a litter. If this ever happens, I want you to come straight here. You will be vulnerable and this is the safest place in the whole forest." She could see tears start to rise in the small boy's eyes. She stood up and pulled him into a light hug. Fran could feel her shirt dampen and stick to her skin but she didn't pull away.

"Why do I have to be the submissive?" Roxas' muffled voice said. He pulled away from the tall woman and took a few steps back. The poor blond was terrified of childbirth. His mother would go on and on about how much pain she was in for her twins' birth and Fran did say litter, which meant more than one, right? And it almost scared Roxas how much that bothered him more so than the fact that the Axel would be the father.

"Axel claimed you as his. That is the right of the dominate."

Roxas had more questions he wanted to ask but, before he could say anything, Kairi came running towards him. "Roxas! Roxas! Wanna hear a joke Big Brother told me?" She didn't wait for his answer. "There was a bear and a rabbit taking a dump in the middle of the woods. The bear asked the rabbit if he had a problem with poo sticking to his fur. When the rabbit said 'no', the bear wiped his butt with the rabbit." Fran gave the little girl an appalled look as Kairi doubled over in laughter. Roxas smiled and tried to hold back his laughter in fear of what the Viera would do.

When Kairi settled down, she stood up on her tippy-toes and plucked the flower out from behind Roxas's ear. "You won't need this, seeing as Big Brother will always protect you." She placed the flower in the pocket on her shirt before she skipped away to look for Axel.

"Come, let's start a fire." Fran said and beckoned Roxas to the middle of the clearing where she had prepared a bundle of sticks. The Viera stood in front of it with one of her hands placed over the sticks. The blond couldn't believe his eyes. A red circle appeared around the woman's feet; it started to climb up her legs till it reached her outstretched hand and a stream of fire leaked from her fingertips onto the bundle.

When the sticks lit, the circle under Fran disappeared and she placed her hand by her side. Roxas had to dig his knuckles in his eyes and gave them a firm rub to make sure he wasn't seeing things but when he pulled his hands down the fire was still there. "How'd you do that?"

"Age old talent passed down from Viera to Viera." Fran said. "There are some other Mystics here that can control the elements too but there's very few of us. If you want to know, Lycanthropes cannot."

Roxas sat down in front of the fire, wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his head on his knees as they waited for the siblings to return with diner. After few moments of silence, a loud thump was heard behind the blond. His head perked up from its resting place and he turned towards the noise. He could feel himself shaking in fear.

The blond let out a breath of relief when he saw a familiar head of bright red hair poke out from the brush. Axel walked into the clearing dragging a dead deer behind him with Kairi close behind in her wolf form. The brown-red fur around her muzzle was clumped together with blood. Axel placed the dead animal beside the fire with a proud smile on his now human face.

"Look at Kairi's first kill! Didn't she do an amazing job?" Axel had a big smile as he praised his little sister. Kairi wagged her tail happily as she walked towards the underground home to get cleaned up. When she was gone, Axel sat next to his mate and pulled him in a side hug. "I can't wait till you get out there for your first hunt!"

Roxas pulled away. He didn't want to hunt but he didn't know how to tell this to Axel. The man was too happy just imagining it. Roxas turned his face away. "It's getting dark out, shouldn't we head inside?"

Axel just shook his head. "You really need to work on your memory, Roxas. I told you earlier Heartless hate aster flowers. Got it memorized?" He poked the blond's temple before placing a kiss there.

When Kairi came back in her human form, Axel took out his pocket knife and cut up the deer for the three Lycanthropes to share while Fran walked towards blueberry bushes and picked some for her to eat. The group ate in silence till Kairi let out a loud yawn. She curled up beside Fran and fell asleep. The Viera gave the little girl a soft smile and petted her hair. "I'll take the little one to bed. I want you two to work your problems out before you go to bed." Her voice was quiet but strict voice before she picked Kairi up in her arms and carried her into her home.

Roxas sighed and threw a bone in the fire. "Axel, what you did to me is unforgivable and I don't think I ever will forgive you." The blond never took his eyes off the fire but, in the corner of his eye, he could see Axel slump forward. "But Fran did explain to me how implosive you can be. It's not a good excuse but it makes me feel a little better knowing you couldn't help it instead of doing it for some sadistic pleasure of fucking people's lives up."

The older man perked up a bit. Roxas was mad at him but he didn't totally hate him. That was a start. "You're right. I wasn't thinking. But it's rare that I go to the Outerlands and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find you again."

"I wasn't going anywhere. If you just waited till I was older, maybe I wouldn't be so mad."

"Well we can't change that now, can we?" Axel countered. Roxas' face turned red in embarrassment and anger. He quickly changed to subject. "Fran said the only way to get rid of Heat is to have sex..." Roxas' voice got quieter as he spoke but Axel heard him. "I don't want to. I'm afraid..."

Axel leaned over and gave the blond a quick peck on the cheek, "Don't worry. I won't do anything you're uncomfortable with." He stood up and offered his hand to Roxas. "Come on, let's go to bed." The blond accepted the offered hand and the two quietly made their way back towards the room Roxas had woken up in. Both men felt a little better about their slow progressing relationship.


	8. 20 Questions

"So this is your room?" Roxas asked as he sat on the bed he woke up in earlier that day. He had to admit; when he wasn't falling out of it, it was pretty comfortable. Axel was at the other side of the room, stripping for bed with his back to the blond. The sight of the redhead's bare back brought Roxas' mind to what had happened between them in this very room and his face heated up. "I think it would be better if we slept in different rooms tonight."

Axel turned around and gave his mate a betrayed look. Just when he thought they were making some progress, Roxas had to go and take a step back. But he couldn't trust his voice to protest so he just replaced his clothing before leaving the room with a grunt that he was going to sleep with Kairi.

The blond found himself alone in the bedroom that smelled strongly of his mate, making him regret kicking Axel out. The room seemed colder without the redhead. He flopped onto his back and curled up in the fetal position.

Roxas started to think about things. He thought about how unfair he was being towards Axel. The older male was trying so hard to make it work and never gave up even though he fought Axel the whole time. Guilt knotted in Roxas' gut.

He thought about his family. He missed them. It would be Naminé's birthday soon and he really wanted to go see her. Sora was probably failing half his classes without Roxas' notes. Then there was Cloud. He was somewhere in the forest, looking for his little brother and probably lost. Suddenly, Roxas remembered something. Heartless. What if Cloud ran into one? What if he was seriously injured somewhere or dead?

I have to go find him!

Without thinking, Roxas jumped up from the bed, ran out of the room, and down the hall. When he was outside and the cool night air hit his face, he finally calmed down. He looked up at the sky and noticed it was a full moon.

"Sleepless night?" Roxas turned towards the voice and saw Fran standing outside the burrow. With a nod, he went back to star-gazing. There was a rustle beside the blond as the Viera came to his side. "Care to tell me what's wrong?"

The blond sighed. "It's just...I don't know how to feel towards Axel." He didn't hate the redhead like he thought but he didn't know if it was because of the Heat or if he was really falling for him. The only way to figure it out was to sleep together. He did not want to do that. He sat down and pulled his knees to his chest.

Fran sat next to him. "How much do you know about him?"

"Almost nothing." Roxas said with a shrug. It bothered him that he was mated to someone he didn't know and it was sad that they've been living together for a week and only now had a serious conversation.

"Would you like me to tell you then?" Fran's voice sounded robotic. It sent a shiver go the boy's spine.

"N-no, it's fine. I'd rather hear it from him." Roxas said and flashed the Viera a weak smile. The tall woman frightened him a bit. He wasn't sure why. It might have something to do with the fact that she could control elements or that she was taller than Axel. Perhaps it was the rabbit ears.

Fran seemed to sense his anxiety and stood. "Stay here." She disappeared into her home, leaving Roxas alone.

Sighing, he laid down with his hands behind his head and let his thoughts drift. Then he remembered why he originally went outside. He had to find Cloud. Roxas shot up and was about to move towards the clearing when he heard a faint rustling sound. Blue eyes intensified in the dark and scanned the surrounding forest.

It was a Heartless; the emblem on its chest shined from the moonlight. It didn't have legs and just kind of floated there. One of its eyes was dangling from the socket by a chain. Its long, gloved hands were reaching out towards the young boy to grab him. The blond whimpered and was able to take a few steps back before his back hit something solid and warm.

"It's okay; it can't get you here." Axel's low voice said. His hot breath tickled the hairs on the back of Roxas' neck. He was right; the Heartless seemed to be pacing around the flowers trying to find an empty patch. The redhead turned his mate around so his face was crushed against his chest, blocking out the sight of the terrifying creature.

Roxas struggled to get out of Axel's grasp but the older man was much stronger than him. When he realized he wasn't going anywhere, he slumped against the hard chest. "I need to find Cloud. What if something happened to him? He knows as much about this place as I do...did..." Roxas corrected himself. True, he didn't know much more than he did just a week ago but his knowledge was far greater than his older brother's.

Axel wrapped his arms around the small blond and gave him a tight squeeze. "When he was tracking me, I could tell he was a fighter and that nothing would stop him from finding you. I don't think any old Heartless will get to him." Axel could feel Roxas relax in his hold a bit. "We can leave Kairi here and I'll help you look for your brother tomorrow." Once Roxas calmed down, Axel let him go and sat down, patting the ground next to him. "Fran said you wanted to know more about my life. Come sit and we can play a little game of 20 questions."

Roxas looked at the Heartless. It had given up its meal. He sat, with some distance between them, next to Axel. "So, I go first?" When the redhead nodded, Roxas said. "What were your parents like?"

Axel gave his mate a thoughtful look before he turned his face towards the sky. "Well you know my father's name is Reno and he was a pack leader?" Roxas mumbled 'yes'. "He made a lot of alliances with the neighboring Mystics and was well liked. He even managed to befriend some humans when he'd take trips to the Outerlands. I'm told I look just like him. My mother's name was Aerith. She was so kind. Whenever someone in the pack was fighting, she would always find a way to make them stop and forgive each other." Axel plucked a pink aster flower out of the bed in front of them and twirled it in between his fingers. "She helped Fran plant this garden before she got pregnant with Kairi. Kairi looks more like her then I do but still looks a lot like dad. If there weren't witnesses to our births, I wouldn't believe she had been out mother." Axel said with a chuckle. After a few moments of silence, Axel turned to Roxas with a big grin on his face. "Why did you follow me into the forest?"

The blond's face went red and he refused to make eye contact with Axel. "Well...what would you have done if some strange guy, who was probably new to town, stalked you, molested you, and fucking bit you? For all I knew, you had rabies!" Roxas rubbed the bite mark again. "I guess you did have something like it though..." A few tense seconds went by before Roxas could think of a question. "You left right after, if you knew I was going to change, why didn't you stick around?"

Axel rubbed the back of his head with a shy smile on his face. "Well I knew it'd take a few days for the bite to take effect and I needed to stop by the den and talk to Kairi about it to make sure she would be set with food till we got back. I knew you'd be at Braska's so I didn't have to waste time tracking you. What I didn't expect, though, was you to follow me." He placed his arm around Roxas and pulled him closer. "You're lucky Kairi was the one who found you. If it was another Lycanthrope and they smelled me on you, hell would've broken lose."

"Why?" Roxas asked while snuggling closer to Axel's warmth, glad he had something that supplied heat next to him now that it was getting colder.

Axel pulled back from the blond enough so he could gently tap Roxas' nose, "You already asked a question. It's my turn now." He lowered his hand. "Are you happy with me?" He asked in a serious tone.

"I'm not sure." The younger said truthfully. "Everything about you is just so...alluring I guess would be the right word. But I don't know if it's from the Heat or if I really feel that way." Roxas couldn't take being so close to the redhead. The conversation just turned awkward for him.

Axel maneuvered them so Roxas was resting in between the redhead's legs with his back against the older man's chest. The redhead's hands rested on the blond's stomach, rubbing light circles. "Roxas, I have an idea to calm your Heat down, but you have to trust me." When Roxas didn't say anything nor make a move to stop Axel, the redhead continued.

He moved one hand down to the blond's pants and played with the button and zipper to tease the younger boy. "You know, you look so adorable in my old clothes." Axel breathed in Roxas' ear. The button opened and pulled the zipper down. In Roxas' hast to get dressed earlier, he didn't find any sort of underwear, not that Axel was complaining.

"Their your—Ahh!" Roxas' sentence was cut short when long, hot fingers wrapped around him. A new feeling coiled in the pit of his stomach. Sharing a room with your brothers and living in a large family made taking long showers close to impossible; Roxas never touched himself the way Axel was.

"Mmhmm," Axel hummed into his mate's neck and placed gentle kisses on it. His hand sped up, eliciting a loud moan from the boy withering in his arms. Axel couldn't believe that he caught such a sexy little thing on one of his rare outings. He was truly a lucky wolf.

One of Roxas' hands snaked around and found its way into the red spiky hair and pushed Axel's face closer to his. Roxas' mouth was already open as he panted so it wasn't hard. Axel's tongue entered and dominated him. Roxas tasted like cherries and vanilla. He found the blond's unique flavor addicting.

When they broke apart, a thin line of saliva was left between them but neither noticed it. "A-axel! Faster!" He moaned. Axel grunted and complied, causing a whimper from the blond. The coiling in Roxas' lower stomach got tighter. "So close! Ahhh! Axel!" Roxas came all over Axel's hand.

When he came down from his high, Roxas leaned heavily on the man behind him, out of breath. Axel stroked the younger's hair. "Feel any better?"

Roxas did notice that Axel's smell wasn't as intense as it was before. He tilted his head up and licked Axel's neck; the taste of sea-salt ice-cream was still there. Roxas gave it another lick and another, causing Axel to groan. "Roxas, you have to stop." The redhead knew if Roxas kept this up he wouldn't be able to stop himself from jumping the blond. But Roxas' tongue moved from the redhead's neck to the shell of his ear.

Axel had to push Roxas off of him to stand up. He helped his mate get up and fixed his clothes. Roxas looked down and saw the redhead's obvious problem. "What about you?" He felt bad that Axel had helped him but he was selfish and did nothing for the redhead.

"It's fine. Go down to bed and I'll be there soon." Axel leaned down and kissed Roxas' forehead. Roxas tried to protest when the redhead pushed him towards the home's opening. "Just be a good boy and go to sleep. Don't worry about me." To his dismay, Roxas wiggled out of his grasp and dropped to his knees in front of Axel. The blond started to mess with the belt that was keeping Axel's baggy pants on his hips. "Roxas, get up." Axel said while pushing at the short boy's shoulders.

Roxas swatted away the annoying hands and continued his work. "It's not fair to either of us." The blond mumbled, catching Axel off guard.

"How is this not fair to you?" Axel asked just as Roxas managed to undo his belt, making his voice go up an octave. He wanted this. He really did, but what if Roxas regretted it later? They were just starting to make some progress in their relationship.

Roxas' nimble fingers started to work at the button and zipper. "You taste good." He pulled the redhead's pants and boxers down with a swift tug, exposing Axel. Roxas stuck his tongue out and slowly licked the other man from base to tip a couple of times before he engulfed it and started to bob his head.

Axel forgot that he had been trying to stop the small boy and placed his hands in soft, spiky blond hair. His grip tightened when the tongue swirled around a bit, making a quiet moan come from Axel. In the back of his mind, the redhead wondered how the other got so good at this but he couldn't form any words.

Roxas started to deep throat him and Axel bucked into the boy's mouth. To Axel's surprise, Roxas didn't gag.

"R-roxas!" Axel tried to pull said boy away but he just sucked harder and started to hum again. Axel's cum went down Roxas' awaiting throat.

Roxas pulled away and wiped his mouth. When he put his hand down, he gave his mate a shy smile. "Told you, you tasted good." He pulled Axel's pants back up and buckled them before he stood up and gave the redhead a quick peck on the lips.

"You know you didn't have to do that." Axel chided.

Roxas huffed, grabbed the redhead's hand and dragged him back to the underground home. "I know but it's only fair since you did it for me."

~X~x~X~x~

"Where the fuck are they!" Cloud screamed and kicked a nearby tree making his companion flinch. The two were at the abandoned den and the blond was getting impatient. Seriously, how long was he going to be stuck here?

"It's only been a day, Goldilocks. They might be at Fran's for a few days, depending on how much poison your brother inhaled." The Nymph called down from the tree he was perched in.

Cloud huffed and stormed into the cave to get away from the annoying fairy and to see what was in there. There wasn't much, just a bunch of loose rocks and when his human eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out giant boulders.

He trekked towards the boulders when his foot got caught on something and he fell. Twisting to see behind himself, expecting to see a tree root, he saw was his little brother's red hoodie.

Picking up the dirty red fabric, Cloud hugged it to himself. He needed to find Roxas and fast.

He folded the hoodie and placed it by the mouth of the cave. He looked up at Squall. "Do you have a light or something? I can't see anything in here."

Squall climbed down the tree. "It's disrespectful to go through their things." But he walked into the cave anyway. Cloud's eyes widened; the faint green light that surrounded Squall seemed to get brighter the farther he walked into the den. The Nymph noticed the human's stare. "What?"

"You're glowing." Cloud knew his statement made him sound like a 5 year old.

Squall nodded and crossed his arms. "Well you asked for a light and I don't think you know this or not but tree's don't get along with fire so I wouldn't have a lighter on me. This is the next best thing." The Nymph started to walk deeper into the cave, leaving the blond behind.

Cloud quickly followed him. "What happened to 'it's disrespectful to go through their things.'?" Squall just shrugged, moved behind the boulders and found a trap door.

~X~x~X~x

The two Lycanthropes made it back to the redhead's old room and stripped for bed. Axel was the first to climb into the queen size bed. Roxas followed and cuddled on his mate's chest, surprising Axel. Roxas never wanted to cuddled before.

Not wanting to waste the rare moments when Roxas was loveable, Axel leaned up a bit so their lips touched. "Good night." He laid back down, wrapped his arms around the small blond, and closed his eyes. All in all, he had to say, today was a good day.

Roxas stayed up a bit longer and just stared at the sleeping man under him. Now that the Heat wasn't bothering him as much, he was finally able to clear his mind and realized his feelings for Axel. He knew he was falling for him. It was too early to say if it was love or not but there was a spark.

And the fact that he tastes like sea-salt ice-cream is fucking amazing!

Roxas blushed and buried his face Axel's neck, trying to run away from his perverted thoughts.


	9. Reunion

Just as Axel had promised, the two left when the sun rose. Kairi threw a huge tantrum. She didn't want to be left behind while the boys went on an adventure. She tried to follow them till Fran picked her up. The young girl wrapped her legs around the Viera's waist and her arms around her neck.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Axel said and rubbed Kairi's back. The girl tensed under his touch and she buried her face in Fran's white hair. Axel was hurt but he knew she would forgive him. She was never good at holding grudges. "Thanks for this, Fran."

The tall woman adjusted Kairi. "You owe me for this." She said with a rare smile on her face. It had become an inside joke between them. Fran would say Axel owes her but they both knew she was too proud to ask him for any kind of help.

Roxas walked up to the trio to see what was taking his mate so long and saw a sad Kairi. "Hey Kai, what's wrong?" His voice was quiet and soothing.

Kairi lifted her head off of Fran and looked at Roxas with teary blue eyes. "I wanna go with you and Big Brother." She wiped her eyes as tears started to fall from them.

Blue eyes looked at green as Roxas tried to beg Axel; he hated to see the little girl cry. But Axel just shook his head. He didn't know what they'd run into while looking for Cloud. He didn't even want Roxas to go but he knew the blond would throw a bigger fit then Kairi. Before Roxas could ask, the redhead grabbed Roxas's hand and dragged him into the forest.

Kairi and Fran watched the retreating figures till they couldn't see them anymore. Kairi regretted not saying good-bye to her brother. She remembered the last time Axel had gone somewhere without her.

~X~x~X~x~

"So where was the last place you saw him?" Roxas was walking beside Axel, who was in his wolf form. The two had been walking all day with no signs of the older blond.

Axel looked around their surroundings. They were far from both Fran's burrow and their den. "I think he started following me a few miles west and lost track of me south of there." Roxas groaned. He didn't want to walk anymore. He hadn't slept well the night before and hadn't eaten. Axel noticed Roxas's distress and bumped his leg. "You can ride me if you want."

Roxas's face went as red as Axel's fur. Since last night, the blond's mind had been filled with thoughts of Axel. It was awkward to be around him. The wolf didn't seem to notice the boy's situation and kept making comments stirred up perverted images in his head. "Umm...No, it's fine."

"You sure? You look like you're about to faint."

"I'm sure." Axel laid down. "What are you doing?" He cautiously walked up to the wolf. He didn't like it when Axel was in wolf form and manhandled him. When he was close, he knelt beside Axel and touched his soft fur.

When he went to scratch behind his red ears, Axel turned his head and caught the sleeve of his old shirt that Roxas was borrowing, pulling the blond next to him. "You need to rest."

"No, I don't! We need to find Cloud!" Roxas tried to get up but Axel placed a big paw on his back and pushed him back down.

"It'll cause more problems if you pass out before we can find him. Trust me; it's going to do him better if you rest."

Roxas processed this. What the redhead said was true. He laid down beside the wolf, using his side as a pillow. Roxas gently scratched behind Axel's ears till he felt the tension in his body leave and he knew the wolf had fallen asleep. The boy nuzzled into the red fur and felt his eyes slowly close.

Not even ten minutes passed before Roxas was woken by growling. The vibrations rumbled through his body.

"Well, well, if it isn't Roxas." A cold voice said. The blond turned his head towards the voice and saw a pale blond wolf with cold green eyes. The voice and eyes were familiar to Roxas but he couldn't think of whom this Lycanthrope was. "Oh come now boy, you must remember me. You know, your parents are pretty upset that you just up and left. And I can see why you did. Nice to see you again, Axel."

"Vexen." Axel growled.

Roxas knew him! That was his chemistry teacher! "Mr. Vexen? Why are you here?" Roxas thought that Mystics couldn't go into town and even when then they had to be sneaky. How had Vexen fooled everyone at the school for so many years?

"Such riff-raff you got yourself involved with." Vexen started to walk closer to the two on the ground, making Axel's growl louder. "Is he holding you against your will? I can help you get back home, yes?"

For once, when someone brought up the word home, he thought of the den. The blond shook his head and buried his face in Axel's red fur. "I'm already home."

Axel's jaw almost dropped from that. He assumed Roxas still wanted to go back to his family.

"Boy, do you know nothing?" Vexen asked, "Your parents are looking for you. They think someone kidnapped you." The platinum blond eyed Axel. "I guess they weren't far off...but, I digress. Humans do not belong here. I will personally escort you back home if you wish." He extended his front paw towards Roxas.

Axel snapped at the outstretched paw. "Leave us the hell alone! He said he doesn't want to go! And wouldn't Xemnas be wondering where you are by now?" Axel never liked the creepy man and he always believed he had something to do with his parent's death.

Vexen took a deep breath, making Roxas cringe. "I see..." He gave them the best smile a wolf could make then walked away.

"Axel," Worry laced his voice. "I don't want to be here anymore."

"Roxas...?" Axel felt a little hurt; not even five minutes ago the blond said he didn't want to go back home and now he wanted to?

The blond seemed to sense his mate's distress and wrapped his arms around the wolf's neck. "Dummy, I meant what I said. This is my home now. But Mr. Vexen scares me and I don't want to be here." He emphasized the last word to get his point across. Axel's ears perked up and wagged his tail. "Can we get out of here now?" Roxas stood up and started to walk in the opposite direction of Vexen with Axel close behind.

"It's getting late. I think we're close to the den if you want to head over there before the Heartless come out." Roxas nodded and the two started walking home.

~X~x~X~x~

Cloud let out a maniacal laugh as he chased Squall with a lighter he found in one of the rooms under the trapdoor. "Die, you fucking flower! Die!" The blond didn't really want to kill the Nymph but after two days of being stuck with him and no sign of his brother, Cloud needed some entertainment.

"Dammit Cloud!" Squall yelled as he climbed to the top of a tall tree. "Can't you go back to the fucking cave and be a pervert with your brother's clothes and leave me the hell alone?" Cloud found a dresser full of Roxas's clothes and tears had formed in his eyes, not that he would actually cry or anything he was just happy that he was in the right place. Then Squall made a comment about incest. Next thing they both knew, Cloud was chasing Squall up a tree armed with fire.

Footsteps sounded over the ruckus. "Cloud?" Said boy turned and saw blue eyes and blond hair, so similar yet different from his own.

"Roxas!" Cloud dropped the lighter, running up to his brother and the red wolf that was in Naminé's picture. "Where the hell were you? Do you know how long I've been waiting?"

"About a day and a half." Squall said as he slid off the tree and walked over to the trio. "Axel, I need to talk to you in private." The taller man nodded and led the Nymph into the cave.

Axel escorted Squall to the cave where he left him so he could go change. When he came back, the Nymph started to talk. "You need to take over the Lycanthrope pack." The brunet was blunt, catching Axel by surprise.

A loud laugh left the redhead's lips. "Are you fucking nuts? I have Kairi and now Roxas to take care of!"

"I think we have time to wait till Kairi's old enough to take care of herself. As for Roxas, Cloud's here to take him home so you won't have to worry about him." Squall crossed his arms and leaned against the cave's wall.

Axel looked over at his mate. It looked like he was explaining something to his older brother and, by the look on his face, he wasn't getting it. "Roxas and I are mates; Cloud can't take him." Axel growled.

Squall smirked; he had Axel right where he wanted him. "More of a reason to stop Xemnas. He's letting the pack run wild and causing a lot of destruction. You wouldn't want your future pups to get mixed up with that, would you?" He paused and looked at the Lycanthrope's face. Axel looked torn. "And don't forget Xemnas already wants you dead. Wouldn't it benefit everyone if you just took care of this now?"

"But what if I fail? What if something happens to Roxas or Kairi? What if I'm not as good as my father? What if-"

"And what if the sky catches on fire and your nose falls off?" Squall cut off Axel's pity party. The redhead looked terrified. "You can hold yourself back with all the 'what ifs' as you'd like but you won't know what will happen until you do something. And it's not like you're going to be doing this alone. You have Riku, and you always have me and the rest of the Mystics who supported Reno." The tree fairy gave the redhead a light smile and gave the taller man a pat on the shoulder before walking out of the cave and into the surrounding forest.

Axel stood in thought. If he fought Xemnas, there was a chance the current pack leader would kill him. If he didn't fight, there was a chance of Xemnas killing him and his family. Either way he and his family were in danger.

"Roxas! What the hell?"

~Meanwhile~

The brothers watched the two Mystics disappear into the den and, when they were out of sight, Cloud pounced on his younger brother. "What the hell is going on? Do you know what Sora told me? Do you know what our parents are going through right now?"

Roxas could feel his head spinning. Cloud was talking unusually fast. What registered was his twin's name. "What happened to Sora?" The younger blond was terrified that Cloud brought bad news about their brother.

"He had a dream you were in danger, and do you know what I found out when I got here?" Cloud sounded mad.

Roxas cursed twin telepathy. "But I'm fine. See!" The small blond twirled in place to show Cloud that he wasn't hurt. But Cloud saw dark marks on Roxas's neck.

"Roxas! What the hell?" Cloud grabbed his brother's arm and tugged his shirt collar down. A deep red blush dusted Roxas's cheeks; he hadn't realized his mate had left any marks.

Roxas wiggled out of his brother's grasp. He covered his neck with one hand. The other was held out in front of him as if to ward off his brother's wrath. "I-it's not what you think! Axel had to-"

"Axel?" Cloud turned towards the redhead, who was still standing at the mouth of the cave, and stormed up to the older man. On his way to the cave, he picked up his backpack filled with weapons and pulled out a bowie knife. Axel bared his teeth and growled at the threat. Cloud didn't back down.

"Cloud, stop it!" Roxas yelled. He knew the two would end up fighting, and he didn't want either of them hurt. When his brother showed no signs of hearing him, Roxas ran after him. He threw himself in between the two men. "Will you just listen to me?" Cloud halted, his eyes set in a glare and focused on the redhead. "I let him do it, okay? The whole thing was consensual. Axel would never do anything I wasn't comfortable with."

Cloud's eyes flickered from the tall man to his brother then back. He launched the knife at Axel's face.

"Axel!" Roxas screamed as he watched the sharp object go flying at his mate.

~X~x~X~x~

A platinum wolf sprinted through the forest. He needed to tell his leader important news. Axel had a weakness. The superior would be pleased.

He ran to a tall structure made out of boulders molded together from years of erosion. It formed a large circular perimeter with small dens scattered inside. Vexen made his way to the largest den.

"Lord Xemnas?" He called. A low growl came from inside the cave, and gold eyes glinted in the darkness. "My deepest apologies sir, but I just found something out that will make you most pleased."

"This better be important, you buffoon." Xemnas growled. He was not in a good mood. Vexen always seemed to overreact over the dumbest things. The pack leader was getting tired of it.

Vexen swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's about Reno's kids, Axel and Kairi."

"I know who his kids are, you moron. What about them? You know they're untouchable till the girl matures." Xemnas cut the other off. His patience was wearing thin and he was about to snap.

"I'm aware of that, sir. I came to tell you that Axel has found himself a mate, who happens to be in heat. He and his brother are students of mine back in the Outerlands." A smile crept onto the wolf's face. "We could use the two against Axel."

Xemnas was quiet for a few minutes. "This better work, Vexen. It's your last chance to prove yourself useful." The pack leader growled. Vexen's light blond ears pressed flat against his head as he walked away. Nether of the two wolves noticed a certain silver wolf listing in on their conversation.

Riku snuck away, cursing Vexen and Xemnas.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas ran past Cloud. He pushed the redhead out of the way. He waited for the piercing pain. But it never came.

The blond slowly turned around and his heart jumped to his throat. The knife was suspended by a thin vine centimeters from Roxas's face. He was vaguely aware of Axel's worried voice yelling at him. "Roxas, why would you do that?" The redhead grabbed Roxas by his shoulders and shook him out of his stupor.

When Roxas snapped out of it, he looked at Axel's face and was shocked to see tears in the corner of his green eyes. The smaller male stretched on his toes and kissed his mate's tattooed cheeks. Before he could pull away, though, Axel placed his hand behind Roxas's head and pulled him in for a deep kiss. As the blond opened his mouth to let Axel's tongue in, he was pulled away and forced to face his older brother.

"Will you please tell me what the hell is going on?" Cloud said as he pulled Roxas out of the den and towards Squall, who had reappeared at the edge of the clearing. The taller blond crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for his brother to explain.

Roxas rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish look. "Well...umm...you see..."

"They're mates, dumb-ass." Squall bluntly said.

Cloud's eyes doubled in size. "Wait. What? Mates? No, you can't do that! We need you back home!"

Axel wrapped his arms protectively around Roxas's waist. "It means he's mine." The redhead stuck his tongue out at the older blond.

Cloud really hated that man. Before Cloud could say anything back, Axel turned him and Roxas around and led him into their den. "It's getting dark. You guys can sleep in Kairi's room if you want." He called over his shoulder at the other two men before disappearing into the darkness of his home.


	10. Long Ass Talk

After shoving Squall and Cloud into Kairi's room, Axel and Roxas changed then climbed into bed. Axel laid on his back while Roxas curled around the taller man with his head on Axel's chest. Just when the blond was being lulled to sleep by his mate's heartbeat, a long, loud howl was heard outside.

Axel shot up, knocking poor Roxas out of the bed. The redhead gave the blond an apologetic smile before offering his hand to help the younger boy up. Once Roxas was back on his feet, whoever was outside howled again. "Who's here?" Roxas asked in a whisper. He was scared Vexen had followed them home.

"Stay here and I'll go check it out." Axel leaned down and kissed Roxas on the forehead and, before the blond could object to it, Axel slipped on the pair of pants he was wearing earlier that day and left the room. Standing in the hall, he saw his two guests. Cloud opened his mouth to say something but Axel interrupted. "He's staying in the room." Cloud nodded, walked past the redhead and went into his brother's room.

Once the two Mystics knew the Jecht brothers were safe, they made their way out of the hidden home and into the main part of the den. A silver wolf stood there.

"Axel, I need to talk to Roxas." Riku said as the other two got closer to him. The wolf was panting from sprinting to the den to avoid the Heartless. He made sure he covered his tracks so none of the creatures would follow him.

"He's inside with his brother." Axel replied.

The wolf gave the Nymph a pointed look; he assumed the Nymph had spirited Roxas's brother. Why else would he be there? Squall raised his hands in a defensive manner. "He just fell asleep in my home so I showed him where he could find Roxas." Riku gave him an 'I don't believe you' look. "There's nothing going on between us! He's a whiny bitch and I can't stand him."

Axel felt the need to cut in. "It's true. When Roxas and I got back here, Cloud had him up a tree and was threatening to set him on fire." Axel couldn't keep a straight face and laughed at the brunet's expense. Riku laughed along with the redhead.

After a few minutes, Axel stopped. "Well, you wanted to talk to Roxas, right? Come on." He started to walk back into the den with the other two behind him but stopped when he saw Roxas' red hoodie at the mouth of the cave. Axel picked it up and slipped it over his bare chest before he followed Riku and Squall back into the den.

~X~x~X~x~

Cloud was shocked when he walked into the room and saw his baby brother in just boxers but then he saw the scared look on Roxas's face; he went into big brother mode and wrapped his arms around Roxas. The smaller blond pushed his brother away. He was still mad over the fact that Cloud tried to kill Axel.

"Roxas..." Cloud tried to get closer to his brother again. When Roxas's posture tensed, the older blond backed away from the foot of the bed and sat on the other end. "Look, you can't keep this up. I didn't know you felt so strongly towards Axel. I'm sorry." Cloud's blue eyes drifted away from his brother. He wasn't the best when it came to apologizing. "But I don't care what's going on, I need to bring you home." Roxas stared at his brother. "When you ran in front of the knife, I just...Roxas, why did you do that?"

A sharp pain went through Roxas's chest. He didn't know why he did it; he just felt like he had to protect Axel. Was it instinct to protect your mate? "I'm not really sure. But it was something I felt I had to do. Has that ever happened to you, Cloud?" The older blond shook his head. He was the most level headed out of the Jecht kids; Sora acted more out of impulse then all of them. Roxas gave his brother a small smile. "Lycanthropes are known for acting without thinking." Roxas quoted Fran. "Cloud, I'm turning more and more like a Lycanthrope. I can never go home."

"I can't accept that!" Cloud stood up from the bed and was looking down at his little brother. "Sora and Naminé are worried sick about you! If I go home empty handed, I'll never hear the end of their nagging. Or maybe they'll come here themselves and try to find you. Would you like to see little Nami lost out here?"

"No, I wouldn't like her coming here. But you don't understand. I can't go back. Granddad and Uncle Auron know what I am now." Roxas's voice became nothing more than a whisper as he remembered his Uncle.

Before Cloud could say anything else, a silver wolf walked in. Cloud turned and grabbed the closet object, a thick book that was sitting on a desk beside the bed, and drew back his arm. Axel's eye's doubled in size as he walked in. He rushed up to the tall blond and snatched the book from his hand.

"Don't touch that." The redhead growled. He placed it back in its spot on the desk before he turned to his mate and gestured towards the silver wolf. "Riku needs to talk to you about something." After he thought about it, Axel added. "I think Cloud should hear about it too." He turned away from the blonds and started to dig through his dresser. He threw clothes at Riku, who caught them and placed them on his back. He walked out of the room to change.

Once Riku left the room, Roxas reached for the book to see it was a photo album. Curious, Roxas opened the book and the first picture made his jaw drop. "Axel, is this Reno?" He asked as he pulled on Axel's sleeve to get his attention.

The redhead looked over Roxas's shoulder to look at the picture and smiled at it. The picture had a redheaded man leaning against a tree. He was lighting a cigarette and the flame coming from the lighter illuminated his sharp facial features, making his blue eyes glow.

"Yeah, that's him."

Roxas looked up at Axel and back down at the picture. "If it wasn't for your eyes, you would look just like him. Kairi got his eyes and some of his hair color, didn't she?"

Cloud walked away from the couple and made his way over to the Tree Nymph, who was standing in a corner on the other side of the room. "So...what's going on?" The blond was confused. First, a wolf just waltzed in the room but Roxas didn't seem to care and was now happily looking at pictures. The older blond was starting to feel left out.

Squall leaned against a wall and crossed his arms across his chest. "The wolf that just left name's Riku. He runs with the local Lycanthrope pack. He has to tell us something that I don't think you'll like." The Nymph said. A grin made its way on his face when said Lycanthrope walked back into the room in his human from. Everything was working out for Squall.

Axel's clothes were a little to long for Riku and he kept tripping on the pant legs. Riku had to stop walking once he got to the doorway. "Roxas, I overheard something that I think you should know. Vexen told Xemnas about you. He plans on using you against Axel. He'll even drag your twin into this if he has to."

"Vexen? The teacher?" Cloud asked from his and Squall's corner. "He can't do that!" His hands were balled up in fist. One of his siblings were already mixed up in this mess, he didn't need another one.

"Cloud." Roxas called to his older brother. When Cloud looked over, he saw that Axel had pulled Roxas onto his lap and had his arms wrapped protectively around the small blond's waist. "All this time, Vexen's been tricking us. He was never human. You need to tell Granddad; he can banish him from town."

The older blond just shook his head. "You're coming with me to tell him." Axel started to growl and his grip on the blond boy in his lap got tighter. Cloud saw the distressed look in his brother's blue eyes and walked over to the two. He snatched his brother out of the redhead's grasp and dragged him over to the corner he was standing in. "He doesn't belong here. You took him from us. He needs to be with his family, not some fucking freak who just wanted an easy lay." Cloud spat at Axel.

Riku cut off any remark from Axel. "Can we please stick with the topic? Look, we need to do something to protect Roxas and his family from the pack. The sooner we can figure this out, the sooner Axel can become the leader-"

"Wait, what if I don't want to become the leader?" Axel cut in.

"Leader?" Roxas asked. He looked from Axel to Riku and waited for an answer. The blond knew that Axel was the son of the previous pack leader but wolves didn't have monarchy; their ruler was picked by being strongest. "So you're going to kill Xemnas?" The blond broke free from his brother's grasp and knelt in front of his mate. "You can't do this! What if something happens to you? I don't know what I'd do." Roxas buried his face in Axel's legs while the redhead combed his fingers through soft, blond spikes.

Riku coughed to bring the couple back to their conversation. "He has to. I think Xemnas is up to something big. Why else would he have Vexen in the Outerlands?" Roxas lifted his head off of Axel's lap and looked over at the silver haired Lycanthrope. "I think we'll need eyes over there, just to make sure he's really up to something so we can stop him. Cloud, would you mind doing that for us?" He looked over at the tall blond.

Cloud looked over at his brother, whose big blue eyes were silently pleading to him, then turned back to Riku. "I already graduated from high school. It'll be impossible for me to keep an eye on Vexen. And I refuse to have Sora get dragged into this."

"Is that your way of getting me to go back with you?" Roxas asked. He was still sitting on the ground with his back against the bed and his head leaning on Axel's lap. He showed no signs of moving.

Cloud was about to answer, but the brunet spoke up first. "I'll do it." All eyes in the room looked over at him with skeptical looks. "What? I know I won't be able to pass as a student but I can try to get a job at the school and keep an eye on both Vexen and Sora." The Nymph didn't really want to be bothered with it but, if it meant his tree would be protected in the long run, he didn't care about this minor inconvenience.

Cloud just shook his head; he wanted Roxas, not Squall! "That won't work. Vexen knows you. It would be easier if I just take Roxas back home and put all of this behind us."

"But if Roxas goes back with you, it'll just make it easier for Xemnas to nab him. And once he has Roxas, he'll use him to kill Axel."

"I don't care what happens to that bastard." Cloud growled with a finger pointed at Axel.

"Xemnas doesn't care about what you feel or if you want to forget about all of this. He'll still come after Roxas."

Roxas whimpered. He just figured out how he felt for his mate. There was no way he wanted Axel to be taken away from him nor did he want to be used to get him killed. Axel's hand left his hair and made its way to Roxas's chin and lifted his head so Roxas was looking up at the red head. "Hey, we'll figure something out, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen." Axel pecked Roxas on the lips.

The hair on the back of Cloud's neck stood up. He didn't like his brother being so affectionate with a complete stranger. Squall put his hand on the blond's shoulder to calm him down. Cloud just shrugged it off, causing the brunet's frown to deepen.

"It's getting late. Why don't we go to bed and talk about things in the morning?" Riku suggested. Even though they couldn't see the moon, Riku just wanted everyone to calm down and the only way that would happen would be once everyone was rested. Squall nodded. The two Mystics walked out of the room and into Kairi's.

Cloud didn't move from his spot and just watched his brother and his mate. Axel was still sitting on the bed with his hand stretched out to help Roxas stand up. Both of them had wide grins on their faces. Cloud couldn't bring himself to smile at the happy couple. Instead, he cleared his throat. Roxas turned to his brother and had a heavy blush on his face. Axel just looked annoyed. "You're sleeping with the other freaks." Cloud said with a finger pointed at the redhead.

Axel glared at the older blond. "And why would I do that? This is my home. If I wanted to, I could make you sleep outside with all the Heartless." He grunted in pain when Roxas elbowed him in the ribs.

"Go sleep in Kairi's room and talk strategy. I'll talk to Cloud and change his mind about taking me home." The small blond whispered at his mate. Axel nodded in agreement and gave Roxas a quick kiss before leaving. Roxas looked over at his brother and patted the edge of the bed. "Come on, let's sleep." He crawled into the sheets on the far side of the bed. When he felt the bed dip as Cloud joined him, Roxas spoke. "You know, not too long ago, Uncle Auron told me that our life is our own story and that we shouldn't let anyone write it for us."

The room filled with silence for a few moments. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"No matter how much you want me to come home, I won't. It's my life and I can make my own choices." A new found confidence was in Roxas's voice.


	11. Home is Where Your Bucket Is

The morning came without any incidents occurring at the small den. But, when Cloud woke up, he panicked when he noticed that Roxas was no longer in bed. The tall blond shot out of bed and sprinted out of the hidden home, skidding to a stop when he almost plowed into his little brother's back.

Roxas was sitting on the floor of the cave. In his lap, there was a tiny girl who resembled Naminé. The girl was curled up and sleeping while Roxas gently rubbed her back. Roxas's blue eyes left the girl's sleeping form and looked up at his brother. "Glad to see you're finally up," Roxas smiled when Cloud sat next to him.

"Who's that and where did she come from?" Cloud didn't bother to hide his disgust.

Roxas frowned. "Her name's Kairi. Axel picked her up from Fran's this morning."

"He just can't stop kidnapping kids, can't he?"

The next thing Cloud knew he was on his back and his check stung. Did Roxas just hit him?

"Look, you jackass, Kairi is Axel's sister. We left her with a friend so we could look for you! I was worried that something bad was going to happen to you if you were by yourself in the woods." Roxas tried to keep his scathing voice quiet so Kairi wouldn't wake. The shorter blond managed to stand up with Kairi in his arms. He walked towards the back of the den and disappeared through the trap door.

Cloud huffed and stood up, rubbing the bruise on his cheek. He didn't like the influence Axel was having on his baby brother. Once the blond was outside he looked around. The sun was high in the sky; it was probably around noon. At the far end of the clearing, Cloud saw something that made his skin crawl. The two Lycanthropes were devouring a half-eaten carcass. Cloud couldn't even tell what it was.

Axel looked up at the blond and grinned at him; with all the blood covering his face and teeth, he looked more threatening. Cloud backed away into the cave when his back hit something solid. He turned around and saw Squall standing behind him.

The Nymph took in the human's pale face. "What's got the revengeful hunter all scared?" He smirked when color returned to Cloud's face.

"How can you not be disgusted by them?" Cloud nearly screamed.

Squall looked from Cloud to the wolves and chuckled. "If you think that's gross, you should have seen your brother out here earlier." The blond's face scrunched up, making Squall laugh some more.

"Roxas has better table manners than those beasts." Cloud scuffed.

"You bet I do," Roxas said as he climbed out of the trapdoor. "I, at least, use a knife to cut it apart." The blond turned towards the brunet. "Did you tell Cloud about the plan yet?" When the Nymph shook his head, Roxas turned towards his brother. "We're all going back." Cloud went to say something but Roxas held up his hand to stop any words. "But I'm not staying. I'm going to talk to Sora and Nami about what's going on. I'm coming back once that's done."

~X~x~X~x~

Yuna moaned and put her head on the cold table top. Things had not been going so well at the Jecht house. First, her youngest son goes missing then her oldest goes out looking for him. Yuna had asked Auron for help but he told her that her kids were lost forever.

Jackass

All Yuna needed was a few moments of silence to clear her head a bit. But fate didn't seem to want to grant her the pleasure as the phone rang. The young mother stood up and walked to the other side of the kitchen.

"Hello, Jeckt residents...Oh hello-...What? Oh my, yes, of course...Okay I'll tell him. Thank you." After she hung up the phone, Yuna rubbed her temples to relieve the oncoming headache. "Sora! Get your butt down here!" She yelled up to the second floor where her son was. A loud thump was heard upstairs and the noise continued till the hyper brunet was in the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom?" Sora panted while clutching his side like he just ran a marathon. His spiky brown hair was messier than usual and green paint was splattered on his cheek. Yuna dropped her hands from her head and started to scratch the paint off of her son's face. Sora winced at the sharp pain from Yuna's nail and he could tell she was mad at him. "Is something wrong?"

Yuna didn't talk until she was satisfied cleaning. "Your teacher called. He said you're failing his class, but he offered to tutor you." Her busy hands moved from the boy's face to his hair as she tried to straighten it. "Starting Monday, you have to stay after school and do extra work for his class."

Sora couldn't argue with his mother. After all, when Roxas left, Sora couldn't copy his notes anymore and was totally lost in all of his classes. Sora nodded then escaped upstairs again.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas, Cloud, and Riku made their way out of the large forest and towards the small town on the outskirts. Axel had to stay back at the cave or risk Kairi throwing another tantrum. Squall went back to his tree to check up on things before he went to the Outerlands.

Roxas sighed for the millionth time in an hour and looked behind him. This was the farthest he had ever been away from his mate since he came to live in the forest. Riku lead the group, marking a path for Roxas to follow home. He heard the young Lycanthrope and turned so he could face the boy. "You know it's funny," He paused and waited for Roxas to stop looking behind him. "Only a few days ago you wanted nothing to do with Axel and look at you, now you can't even go a few hours without him. You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say you loved him."

The poor blond's face turned bright red and he bowed his head so his hair blocked his blushing face. Cloud couldn't understand all the barks and growls sounding from the silver wolf.

Cloud nudged his brother's side. "What's wrong?" Since leaving the den, the older blond had let his guard down and was less irritable. Maybe without that damn redhead he could finally talk some sense into Roxas.

"I just...it's nothing." Roxas looked away from his brother and called towards Riku. "Are we there yet?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Don't start acting like a little pup, now. And we should be there in about two or so hours."

"But I can never age." That caught Cloud's attention. "So I can act like a pup as much as I want right?" Roxas noticed his brother's sudden interest in the conversation but didn't call him out on it.

"You can't age once you hit maturity. You can't age; therefore you're not a pup," Riku said as he scratched a tree.

"I'm mature?"

"Well that's why you're in heat. By the way, you and Axel should take care of that soon. Other Lycathropes will pick up on it and do something about it themselves."

A shiver went up Roxas's spine. Cloud saw the movement and, assuming his brother was cold, he pulled the smaller blond in his side to warm him up.

~X~x~X~x~

As the small house that Roxas once called home came into view, the small blond couldn't help but smile. He missed it; he had lived there his whole life.

"This is as far as I can go," Riku said from the outskirts of the forest. "I need to get back to the pack before they suspect anything. Just follow the path I marked or if Kairi cries enough, Axel will come and get you. And Squall should turn up before the end of the day."

Roxas nodded at the silver wolf. "Thank you, Riku."

Riku was about to leave but stopped and said. "I was serious about what I said earlier." With that the wolf left the two brothers.

"What did he say?" Cloud's deep voice said after a while. Roxas jumped at the sudden noise and looked up at his brother with a confused look. "Your face is red again. What did he say?"

"Oh...ummm...nothing." Cloud didn't look convinced. "He said Squall should be here before tonight. Once he gets here, I'm leaving."

Cloud grunted and started to walk up towards the house with Roxas following close behind. As the two got closer, Roxas's ears pricked up at the sound of Naminé's laughter. If the small blond had been in his wolf form, he was sure his tail would have been wagging. Roxas didn't waste any time in running over to his baby sister. Naminé screamed in surprise as she was tackled to the ground. She kicked and hit the person above her with her eyes closed.

"Ow! Nami, stop it! It's me!"

The little girl stopped struggling and cracked her eyes open. Familiar blond hair and blue eyes greeted her. "Roxas!" She screamed and pulled her brother down for a hug. "You're alright! I thought stupid-head Axel did something to you!"

Roxas pulled away from the little girl and gave her a serious look. "Axel would never do anything bad to me, Nami. Why would you ever think that?" Roxas was starting to get irritated at his siblings accusing Axel of things, but he knew they were just worried about him.

Naminé lowered her head and she felt tears form in her eyes, she didn't like it when people where mad at her. "S-Sora said tha-that you were in trouble. Axel promised me that nothing would happen to you." Tears started to pour down her cheeks.

Roxas felt guilty. He hated when his sister cried. "You have it wrong; Axel saved me. I got attacked by a monster while Axel was gone. He came back just in time and brought me to the forest healer before anything bad could happen." The blond couldn't help but smile at how much he had put Axel through. The man never complained and did whatever he could to make Roxas happy. "By the way, where's Sora?" Roxas asked as an afterthought.

It was Sunday so the young brunet wasn't at school. It was a school night so Roxas doubted his mother would let Sora stay out late with friends.

"He went fishing with Uncle." Naminé said, "I couldn't go because mommy said it's not lady-like." The blond girl pouted at the unfairness.

Cloud walked up to his younger siblings and patted the girl on the head. "If you want, I can take you some time."

Naminé smiled at her oldest brother. She was glad to have both of them back. She pulled Cloud into a hug and buried her face in his chest. Cloud wrapped his arms around his sister and pulled her closer to him. Roxas looked at his siblings and for a moment didn't want to go back to the forest. He wanted to stay here with his family. But it didn't last long; he was starting to miss Axel.

Looking up at the sky, Roxas decided he didn't have to leave anytime soon but he hoped Sora would come back soon.

~X~x~X~x~

"When's Roxas getting back?" Kairi whined from her spot next to Axel. The two were at the lake half a mile from their cave.

Axel was scooping water into a big bucket to refill their water supply back at the den. "Hopefully before tonight. Tomorrow at the latest." The redhead frowned a bit. He didn't like Roxas being so far away from him. He could leave Kairi for a bit to get his mate, but he knew Roxas needed some alone time with his family. He sighed as he stood up and balanced the full bucket on his hip. "Ready to go?"

The little girl nodded and grabbed her smaller bucket. The two walked in silence till the cave came into view. Kairi's small voice came through the air. "Am I going to be an aunt soon?"

Axel almost tripped from the sudden question. "Wh-why would you ask that? Of course, you'll be an aunt soon." The redhead didn't know if he was lying to his sister or not but he knew he wanted to start a family; he could wait till Roxas was ready, though.

A large smile spread across Kairi's face and she started to jump out of excitement. "I can't wait! Your pups will be so cute, Big Brother! And, if you have a girl, I can dress her up! Oh, Big Brother, please have a girl!"

Axel laughed at his sister's antics and pulled her in for a one armed hug, still balancing the large bucket. The girl grinned and snuggled into her brother's side. This had to be the happiest she had been since her parent's died.


	12. Flowers Aren't Gay

Roxas sighed as he stretched out on his old bed that he shared with Sora. The brunet was still out and Roxas was starting to get anxious; he needed to leave soon if he wanted to get back to the den before nightfall. Naminé was curled up at her brother's side, asking never ending questions. And Cloud, well, Roxas didn't know where he disappeared to.

"Were there any other wolves?" The small girl asked.

"Mmhmm," Roxas hummed while rubbing Naminé's side. "There's a whole pack, though I've only met Riku. He's really nice and helps out Axel whenever he can. And Axel has a little sister that's a month older then you. But other than them, I haven't met any." Roxas chose not to tell his sister about her future high school teacher also being a Lycanthrope.

Naminé's blue eyes widened. "Sister? What's she like?" The girl bounced on the bed. "Will I ever meet her? Can I meet her on my birthday?"

"We'll see."

The door that led to the basement opened and slammed. "Why is the light on?" A confused voice said at the top of the stairs. "Cloud's back!" A series of thumps were heard coming down. About half way a scream sounded and Sora tumbled down the stairs.

"Sora!" Roxas leapt off the bed towards his twin. Sora lay on his back, clutching the back of his head. A sharp pain went through the blond's skull and he fell to his knees in pain. Stupid twin telepathy.

Sora recovered from the fall first. "Cloud, did you find Roxas?" His hand was covering his eyes.

Roxas groaned and rubbed the back of his head. His brother could be such an idiot. When he was about to correct Sora, he felt tiny hands clamp round his mouth; Naminé brought one finger up to her mouth. "Sorry, Sora. Cloud couldn't find him. He said we should give up." The smile on the girl's face grew larger.

"What the fuck, Cl-" Sora sat up to yell at his older brother but shut up when he saw the wrong blond. "Roxas? Holy shit!" The brunet leapt at his twin, knocking Roxas over. "Where the hell have you been?"

Roxas flinched at the added weight on him and the loudness of his brother's voice. "Don't swear so much when Naminé's around, dumbass. Now can you get off of me?"

"No can do, bro," Sora said and hugged his twin so tight that the poor blond couldn't breathe. "You have to tell me everything!" The brunet gushed like a teenaged girl.

~X~x~X~x~

Cloud and Squall made a rendezvous spot outside of Braska's house. Since the old man pretty much ran the town, Cloud thought it would be best if they told him what was going on.

The blond knocked on the door to his grandfather's house. When the door opened, Braska looked surprised. "Cloud? What brings you here?"

Cloud looked nervous and wouldn't look the old man in the eye. "I'm meeting someone here and we need to talk to you about...umm...things," He lamely finished.

"Is that so?" Braska opened the door wider to let his grandson inside. When Cloud walked past him, Braska closed the door and didn't lock it for whoever was coming over. "You look tired. I'll go make us some coffee. How does that sound?"

Cloud was looking at Braska's bookshelf and nodded. "That sounds nice. Thank you." He turned away from the books to face his grandfather. "By the way, do you have any books on mythological creatures? Like the kind they believe are in Canta Forest."

Braska called out from his spot in the kitchen. "Canta Forest? Why would you want to know what's in there?" The older man started to grind up the coffee beans and the machine drowned out whatever his grandson was going to say.

Cloud sighed and scanned the large bookshelf. It was filled with books of various colors and thickness. Most of them were about the history of the town and a few were on legends and myths. Then his eyes landed on one single book. It was a thick book, probably holding hundreds of pages inside its binding. Leather made the exterior but it was old and dyed an ugly deep orange color. Gold writing embedded the cowhide with the name The Early Myths of Bevelle. Cloud grabbed it off the shelf and flipped through it.

The book had everything Cloud was looking for. About Lycanthropes and Nymphs and what they are. It even had a short chapter on Heartless.

The blond sat on the couch and scanned through the book while he waited for Braska.

Lycanthropes are one of the most deadly monsters that lurk in Canta Forest. They can change from wolf to human at will and will sneak into villages to abduct innocent girls. It is not known what happens to the victims but it's believed that the Lycanthrope will rape her and make her bear his unholy spawns.

Cloud didn't read much after that before a mug was held in front of his face. He took the hot drink from his grandfather with a small smile as a thank you. Braska took a seat in the chair across from him.

Braska eyed the book Cloud was reading. "Is there any reason you wanted to read about Lycanthropes?"

Cloud noticed the worry in his grandfather's voice. "No reason. I just flipped to a random page and it happened to be this one." Braska hummed and took a sip of the dark drink. The blond copied him and the two sat in silence for a while, just drinking, till Cloud decided to ask Braska a question. "Why is Canta Forest forbidden? What's exactly in there?" The blond knew his grandfather was hiding something and he was going to get him to admit what it was.

Braska pretended like he didn't hear the blond and took another sip from his mug. Cloud was going to repeat himself when the front door opened and Squall walked into the room. His normal camouflage clothes were replaced by leather and belts. Lots of leather and belts.

The old man changed the subject. "Ah, you must be Cloud friend. Please sit down and I'll get you some coffee." Braska didn't feel the need to introduce himself since he ran the town.

"It's okay; I don't need anything to drink," Squall said as he sat down in the open spot next to Cloud. He didn't know what coffee was but, by looking at the dark brown sludge in the blond's mug, he guessed it would taste disgusting. "So, I'm guessing Cloud told you I was stopping by?"

Braska smiled at the boys across from him and gave them a slight nod. He knew where this was going. "And I must say I'm happy you two came to me with this." Braska didn't like to brag but he was amazing at reading people.

The Nymph looked over at the blond next to him. "Did you tell him what's going on?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, I didn't. Granddad, what are you talking about?" He asked and took a sip of his drink.

"You two are dating. And you're coming out of the closet," The older man stated with a smile.

Coffee sprayed from Cloud's mouth and he coughed. "You thing I'm...him...what? Why would you think that?"

"Don't get all shy now. I've always known you were gay and hoped you would come out to me." Braska's smile got bigger. Squall thought he was way too happy about it. "It's all about the way you carry yourself. And by the way he dresses," Braska pointed at Squall. "Well, the way he dresses just screams it."

Cloud gave his grandfather a horrified look. "I'm not gay! I can't say the same for Squall, but I'm not."

"What do you mean by that?" Squall glared at the blond.

Cloud glared right back. "What I mean is you're a flower. That's pretty gay to me."

Braska didn't miss the comment. "What do you mean he's a flower?"

The blond looked away from the Nymph. "This is why we came here. He's a Tree Nymph I met while in the forest." Braska opened his mouth to yell at his grandson for going into the forest but Cloud kept talking. "Roxas told Naminé everything and she told me. I'll admit, I overreacted and ran into the forest to look for him." Cloud retold his grandfather everything that happened. "Squall's here to keep an eye on Vexen. He's a high school teacher and a Lycanthrope. We think he's going to do something to Sora."

Braska had his elbows on his knees with his fingers crossed and his chin resting on them. He listened to the whole story without interrupting. He wouldn't have believed a word of it but now that he was looking closely he could now see a faint green glow coming from the man who claimed to be a Tree Nymph. "That's quite a story. But why are you telling me this?"

Squall spoke up. "We think it would be best if you stayed in the loop with what was happening. You know, in case something goes wrong."

"I see. And where will you be staying?"

Squall looked down at his hands which were folded in his lap. "I haven't figured it out yet."

"You can stay here if you like then." Squall looked up at the old man. "It'll be easier for me to keep an eye on you. I can keep tabs on Vexen while I'm at it. And you'll need an easy way into the school, correct?" The brunet nodded his head. "Well, I'll just put a word in for you. With any luck, you'll be in by next week."

Both boys just stared at the older man. Braska chuckled. "You thought I wouldn't help? This is my town and it's my duty to make sure Mystics stay out. If what you say is right, then one made has its way in. And my grandchildren are involved so it's also on a personal level."

Cloud got over the shock first. "Thank you," He said in a sincere voice. He looked out the window. The sun was setting. "I think I should go and see Roxas off."

Braska stood up and gave his grandson a goodbye hug. "Can you tell Roxas I'm sorry? I feel awful for banishing him like that but I was just doing what was best for town. Tell him that if he promises to behave, he and Axel can visit," He said then pulled away. Cloud nodded and left.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas stared at the box in his hand with shock. He told Sora everything. He confirmed what Naminé told him and he told him what happened in the last two weeks. Hell, Roxas even confided in his twin about his feelings.

Before Roxas could tell Sora about Vexen, the brunet grabbed his twin's hand and dragged him to the closest drug store, handing the blond a box of condoms.

"Sor, I don't understand what you're getting at here."

"And you're supposed to be the smart one," Sora grumbled. "If your Heat's making your head be all funky," The brunet chuckled. He still couldn't get over the fact that his brother could go through such a thing. "I think having sex with Axel will help you clear your head. Maybe once you do and you can think straight, you'll realize you can't stand the man anymore and have to come back here."

"Ah-huh. I get the first part. But, you know even if I don't love him, I can't come back. Uncle Auron and Granddad won't let me. And why do I need condoms?" Roxas waved the box in his twin's face.

"Details, details. We'll figure that out if it turns out you don't like him. As for the condoms, we took health class together; you figure it out." Sora winked at his twin and disappeared down the aisle singing Hakuna Matata.

Roxas threw the box into his basket and grabbed some things for the bathroom back at the den before following his brother. He found Sora waiting for him at the register with a goofy grin. Roxas placed his items on the conveyer belt with a blush. When the cashier scanned the condoms, she looked up at Roxas and smiled at him. The bond's red face grew hotter. He just wanted to get out of there already! The blond threw his money on the counter and ran out of the store.

He made it a block before he noticed Sora was behind him laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face! It was priceless!" Sora collapsed on his twin's chest because he couldn't hold himself upright.

"Shut up!" Roxas was trying to be serious but found himself following his twin's example; the two couldn't stop their laughter for the rest of the walk.

~X~x~X~x~

Kairi huffed as she watched Axel wash laundry. Her brother had decided to catch up on some chores while Roxas was gone. Axel had said Roxas would be back before night fell but the sun going down and the blond wasn't back yet. Kairi was getting impatient.

"Why isn't Roxas back yet?"

"He's seeing his family. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't come back till late tomorrow." Axel said with a slight frown. He wanted his mate back just as much as Kairi did but if he let his sister know that then she would whine. The redhead knew if he went to get his young mate then Roxas would get mad at him and they were just starting to get along.

Kairi lowered her head and pulled the grass out of the ground. "Can't you go get him? I really miss him."

"I miss him too. But you know I can't. He needs to be with his family-"

"But we are his family!" Kairi yelled. Tears rolled down her face. She was getting frustrated that Roxas would rather be with other people than them. Axel and she were his family, not those other people!

Axel looked over at his sister when he heard her crying. He sighed and hung a shirt to the clothes line. The redhead picked up the crying girl and carried her towards the den; she was probably throwing the fit because she was getting tired.

When they got to the den, Axel brought Kairi into his room and placed her on the bed. "Go to sleep. When you wake up, Roxas should be home." He went to leave but he heard his sister cry again. Sighing, Axel kicked off his shoes and slid under the covers with the girl.

Kairi grabbed on to her brother, curled around him, and buried her face in his chest as she tried to fall asleep. Axel wrapped his arms around his little sister and rubbed her back to calm her down. The young redhead fell into a fitful sleep.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas picked Naminé up, hugged her close and wished her a happy early birthday before he put her down. He turned towards his twin. Sora jumped on Roxas and wrapped his legs around the blond's waist.

"No, Roxas! Don't leave me!" The brunet fake cried. He screamed in surprise when he felt a hand grab the back of his shirt to haul him off Roxas.

"Thanks Cloud." Roxas smiled over at his older brother. Night would fall soon so Roxas thought it would be best to leave. All of the Jecht kids were standing outside the forest. Signs of winter were showing; there were barely any leaves left on the trees.

Roxas was about to leave before Cloud spoke. "Remember what I told you."

The smaller blond nodded his head. "I'll come back with Axel and Kairi soon. I bet she would love to meet you, Naminé." Said girl smiled. She couldn't wait to meet her new sister. Roxas gave one last wave before he disappeared into the forest.

Roxas couldn't help but smile at how the forest changed around him as he walked. There were more leaves on the trees. They were green and showed no signs of the true season. Roxas followed the trail Riku had marked for him but he took a few detours to explore. He found a small burrow where there was a family of rabbits, a mother doe teaching her fawn how to walk, and there was a small flower patch of different colored flowers that called for Roxas to pick.

When the blond finally made it back to the den, the sun had already set. Roxas got a little worried when he didn't see or hear Axel and Kairi. Roxas shook it off and hurried down the trap door into his home. It was dark. The blond thought it was way too early for them to be sleeping.

Roxas tossed his bag of toiletries into the bathroom before he turned towards the door that led to his room. What he saw made a huge smile spread across the blond's face. On the bed, Axel and Kairi were sound asleep. Axel lay on his back with his arms wrapped around the little girl who was clinging to his shirt.

Being as quiet as he could, Roxas grabbed a change of pajamas, a towel, lighter, and some candles so he could grab a quick shower.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel woke up when he heard the shower turn on. Roxas's back! The redhead would have sprinted into the bathroom to tackle his blond but the weight on his chest was hindering him. Careful not to wake her, Axel moved Kairi off of him and placed a pillow in her arms to substitute for him.

The redhead poked his head in the door to the bathroom and saw the room was light up with candles. There was a faint smell of strawberries from the new shampoo and conditioner the blond had picked up.

Axel smirked when he saw Roxas's silhouette behind the shower curtain. "You're back early."

The figure behind the curtain jumped from the sudden voice and Roxas poked his head out. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" There was a faint blush on his cheeks but Axel couldn't tell if it was from the heat of the water or if the blond was embarrassed.

"No, you didn't. I guess I got used to sleeping in the same bed as you and I just couldn't fall asleep without you there." The redhead scratched the back of his head. He couldn't believe he just said that.

Roxas smiled at his mate. "Go back to bed. I'll be out soon." Axel nodded and went back to his room.

Kairi didn't wake up as Axel crawled back into the bed but, as soon as he was under the covers, she latched onto him. He stared up at the dark ceiling and waited for Roxas to come in. It wasn't long until he heard the bedroom door open and felt the bed dip.

Roxas crawled next to the redhead and Axel pulled him down for a quick kiss. "Welcome home," The taller man said

"It's good to be home." Roxas kissed his mate again before he lay down next to Axel and the two quickly fell asleep.


	13. Beat the Heat

Axel was the first to wake up. He had to get up but Kairi's small arms were wrapped around his midsection while Roxas was lying on top of him. The redhead lifted one hand and combed his mate's blond spikes while his other rubbed his sister's back; he needed to wake them to get up.

When neither of them woke, Axel carefully lifted Roxas off of him. At the same time, he shimmied out of Kairi's hold. Free from the two sleeping forms, Axel walked into the bathroom to relieve himself.

As Axel washed his hands, he saw a plastic bag on the vanity. Axel could make out a bright orange box inside the bag. The redhead reached for the box.

"Roxas!" A high pitched voice squealed followed by a loud thump.

Axel brought his hand back from the bag and sighed. He should go save his mate before Kairi could suffocate him to death. He walked back in his room to see Roxas with his back on the ground, legs still on the bed, and Kairi sitting on blond, squeezing all the air out of him.

Roxas was trying to comprehend what just happened but the dull ache in the back of his head and the body on top of him were distracting him. He heard a chuckle and lifted his upper body with his forearms so he could tilt his head back. An upside-down Axel stood in the doorway.

The blond opened his mouth to say 'Good morning', but his stomach chose that moment to let out a loud growl. Roxas' face flushed at the noise but it made Axel laugh again. He walked towards the two and picked Kairi off of his mate. Roxas took in a deep breath once the weight gone. He swung his feet over and sat up.

"Good morning," He said, rubbing the back of his head. It was still pounding from the fall.

Axel put his sister down, knelt in front of his mate and gave him small kiss. "Morning."

Kairi pouted from her spot. She didn't like that she was being ignored. When the two men didn't see her pout, Kairi jumped on her brother's back. "Big Brother, I'm hungry."

"Okay, I can take a hint," Axel said as he stood up with Kairi clinging on his back. "Would you like to come hunting with me, Kai?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Yes!"

"Roxas?" The redhead looked down.

Roxas looked away from the blue and green eyes that were pleading for him to come. "Umm...I think I'm going to stay and catch up on sleep." He felt bad when the siblings looked disappointed. Roxas wanted to go; he wanted to spend time with his new family but he didn't think he could watch an animal get killed. He had no problem eating meat but he didn't want to be the one to kill it.

"If that's what you want, Roxas," Axel said in a monotone voice that broke Roxas' heart. He didn't mean to upset his mate. "We'll try to come back as soon as we can." They left the room, leaving Roxas alone on the floor.

The blond sighed and rested his head on the mattress behind him. He didn't know what to do. Should he do what Sora said and have sex with Axel? Then he remembered he left the condoms in the bathroom. He wouldn't want Axel or Kairi finding those.

Roxas got up to retrieve his box of 'goodies'. When he got back to the room, he tossed the bag in the farthest corner of his drawer in the dresser. He slammed the drawer and the pages of the photo album that sat on top of the dresser moved, catching Roxas' eye.

Before the blond could reach for it, a sharp pain went through his spine. Roxas hissed and rubbed the sore muscle. Must have slept on it wrong. He'd have to ask Axel for a massage later. When the ache in his back dulled, Roxas grabbed the book and went outside; the dim lights from the candles were starting to hurt his eyes.

When Roxas was outside, he found a shady spot to sit and flipped through the album. He had already seen most of it with Axel the other night and he loved looking at Axel and Kairi from when they were little pups.

After flipping through most of the book, Roxas saw a picture of a red wolf on its back with Axel, who looked about Kairi's age, rubbing his belly. The blond guessed the wolf was Reno; Roxas couldn't get over how much the two redheads looked alike.

The next picture looked like a family portrait. A brunet woman, who Axel had earlier pointed out to be Aerith, was holding a baby Kairi. Reno had his arm wrapped around an older Axel's shoulders; huge smiles were on their faces. They all looked so happy.

Roxas couldn't take his eyes off the picture. It pained him to know that he would never get to meet Aerith or Reno; they looked like such sweet people. He couldn't even imagine what his mate and his sister had to go through when they died. Roxas could at least go visit his family but Axel only had Kairi left. Well, him and Kairi but the blond really didn't know if he was right for the other male.

He didn't know he had started crying until tears dripped on the pages. There were so many emotions going through him and the ache in his back was getting worse. Roxas pulled his knees to his chest, forgetting about the book in his lap. He rested his head on top of his knees and let out a sob, hoping Axel and Kairi were too far away to hear him.

A soft, wet touch to Roxas' cheek startled the boy. His head shot up and with his blurry eyes he could make out a fuzzy form of a red wolf. Roxas was confused; he hadn't heard Axel come back. Then he noticed this wolf didn't smell like his mate.

Roxas pulled away from the wolf but something told him that it was fine; the stranger meant no harm. "Cheer up, yo! You have to be strong for Axel." Roxas shook his head. "Look, I know you're having doubts but you know Axel loves you and it'll break his little heart if he sees you cry."

"What if I don't love him like he loves me?" Roxas asked in a whisper. He was closing in on himself again.

The red wolf licked his cheek. "You sound just like my mate when we first got together. Be good to him." And with that said, the wolf vanished into thin air.

Roxas blinked at the empty spot. What the hell just happened? The blond questioned.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel stretched under the tree with his head on his mate's lap. Kairi was sitting a few yards away, making something out of flowers that she picked from the forest. They had just finished eating their breakfast and were killing time while enjoying the sunny, beautiful day.

Roxas ran his fingers through soft, red spikes. He was having an internal battle with himself over whether he should tell Axel about what happened earlier. Was it just his mind playing tricks on him from the stress of trying to figure out his feelings? Or maybe it was his Heat trying to trick him into having feelings for his redheaded mate? But why the wolf?

"You're thinking too hard." A finger was pressed against the blond's nose. "If you keep making that face, you'll have lots of wrinkles by the time you're 50." Axel laughed at his little joke as he removed his hand from Roxas' face. "Why don't you tell me what's going on and spare your pretty face?"

Nothing out of the usual. Just want to have sex to see if I'm falling in love with you or not. Oh, and I think I'm being haunted by a wolf that looks just like your father. Roxas wished he could say that without sounding like a crazy person. "It's nothing."

Axel frowned. He wanted to know what was bugging Roxas. He flipped them over so the blond was under him. A blush spread across Roxas' face as Axel's got closer. "You say it's nothing but I can read you like a book," Axel whispered in the blond's ear. "And if you won't tell me then I guess I'll have to force it out of you." The redhead's lips moved so they were centimeters away from the boy under him.

Instincts were telling Roxas kiss him but, before he could act, hands were digging into his sides making him twist to get away from the man tickling him.

Kairi looked behind her when she heard Roxas laugh. A sly smile crept on her face as she snuck up on them. When she had gotten behind her brother unnoticed, the girl jumped on him and tickled him.

The redheaded male's back arched away from the offending fingers. His fingers stopped their own assault. Roxas cracked his blue eyes opened and saw Axel hovering above him. Lips slightly parted as he tried to hold in his laughs with hair falling in his face and hips bumping into Roxas' as he tried to get away from his sister's hands.

Roxas had to get out of there. He couldn't control the blood rushing to his face and further south.

A moan escaped the blond's mouth from one of Axel's downward thrusts. Axel stilled when he heard it and sat up, making Kairi slide off his back. He took one look at his mate's flushed face and knew what was happening. He brushed his hand against Roxas' cheek trying to get the blue eyes to look up at him but the blond was dead set on staring at a tree in the distance.

"Roxas, look at me."

Kairi walked to her brother's side. "Is something wrong with him?" She sounded worried and her eyes were big with tears. She knew she was getting too emotional over it but, when it came to her family, she didn't like it when they were hurting.

"I'm fine." Roxas said as he wiggled his way out from underneath the redhead. He brought his knees up to his chest to cover his little problem. Innocent, little Kairi didn't notice anything wrong with the way he was sitting but Axel caught on.

The taller male scooped up the blond and carried him into the den. "I think Roxas needs a nap. Kairi, stay up here and don't wonder off." The girl nodded and skipped back to her forgotten flower project.

Axel brought Roxas down to their room and set him on their bed. Before the blond could ask, Axel's lips were on his. The redhead climbed onto the bed and straddled the boy without breaking their kiss.

When a tongue licked at the blond's lips, Roxas pushed Axel away. "W-what-" He was cut off when a warm hand slid up his shirt and rubbed circles on his stomach.

"It's okay. I'll only go as far as you want." The redhead kissed his mate's cheek.

Wherever Axel touched sent jolts of pleasure throughout Roxas. He wanted nothing more than to get closer to Axel but he was terrified about the after effects. What if he felt nothing for his mate?

Axel sensed the blond's hesitance and pulled away. Roxas wouldn't meet his eyes again and stared blankly at the redhead's shoulder. Axel lifted Roxas' chin so blue eyes would have to meet green. "Roxas, trust me. I'll only go as far as you want. Are you still scared?" Roxas nodded his head. "What's wrong? Talk to me."

"I don't want to stop," Roxas mumbled before he covered his face with a pillow. He knew his face was bright red.

Axel looked down at his mate with a shocked expression. Roxas wanted sex? The redhead couldn't believe it. He pried the pillow from Roxas' grip and kissed the boy. "Then let's not stop."

"But what about Kairi? What if she comes down?"

Neither of them wanted to stop but Axel pulled away. He knew Kairi liked having attention on her, a personality trait she inherited from her father. The redhead helped his mate to his feet and gave him a small peck to the top of his head. "Want to continue tonight?" Axel asked in a hopeful voice. He was happy that Roxas wanted to go this far but, at the same time, didn't want to push him.

Roxas nodded his head with his eyes drifting off towards the dresser. The action was missed by Axel, who was too excited by the prospects of later. He kissed the boy one more time before he grabbed his hand and the two left the room together.

~X~x~X~x~

Sora laid his head on his desk. The bell had rung signaling the end of the school day but he couldn't leave. He had his extra tutoring. A chair was pulled up to the side of his desk and Sora looked up at the green eyed girl beside him.

"Hey. Are you coming? We're all going to get some ice cream." Olette and the rest of Roxas' old group of friends had adopted Sora into their circle when the blond twin went missing. They said he had always been their friend but Sora knew he was just being a substitute for his brother.

"Sorry, I have to go see Mr. Vexen for tutoring."

Olette stood up and rubbed his back in what was supposed to be a comforting way. "Oh. That guy's a creep. Maybe next time, then?" When Sora nodded his head, she squealed and hugged the boy from behind. "I'm holding you to that," She said as she started to leave the room. When she was almost out of the door, she turned back to Sora. "If you hear anything about Roxas you'll tell me, right?"

The brunet boy bit his lip. He knew so much but couldn't say anything. "Yeah, if anything comes up." Satisfied with his answer, the girl left the room.

Sora sighed again. He really didn't want to do this. There was something about Vexen that scared the brunet. When he thought he had spent enough time in the deserted room, he packed up his things and went to the science room.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel huffed as his back met the rough bark of the tree. His green eyes followed his mate's every move as the blond played tag, or whatever it was called when it was only 2 people playing. Since the two had come up from the den, Roxas had refused to make eye contact or even acknowledge the other.

He's just nervous about tonight. That's what Axel was hoping. He knew he had to take care of Roxas' Heat soon or risk other Lycathrops coming into his territory and steal his mate. But he also didn't want to force the boy into anything he didn't want, even though in the end he might have no other choice. Not just because of another Lycanthrope but because Axel didn't know how much longer he could hold back.

Axel was faced with a double-edged sword.

"Ow!" Axel was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his sister cry out. The girl was on the ground and rubbing her leg with tears streaming down her face. Roxas was trying to calm her down by talking in a quiet voice and was rubbing one of her arms in a comforting way. By the looks of it, Kairi slipped in some mud and, on her way down, hit her knee on a rock that was buried in the earth.

When Roxas' method didn't work, the blond leaned down and gave the scrap a small kiss. "There. Does it feel better?" The little girl sniffled and nodded her head. Roxas smiled and kissed the girl's forehead. "Good." The blond stood up, picked up Kairi, and walked over towards his mate.

The redhead couldn't help but smile; Roxas would make the perfect mother.

When the two were close enough, Kairi wrapped her arms around her brother's neck and swung over so Axel was holding her. Once secured in her big brother's arms, Kairi buried her face in his neck.

"Thank you," Axel said to Roxas. The blond said nothing and looked away with a faint blush on his cheeks. A lump formed in Axel's throat at the sight. If he wasn't holding his sister and if he didn't have such good control, the redhead was sure he would've jumped the blond right then.

A quick look up at the sky informed Axel that the Heartless would be out soon. Once Kairi was asleep in bed, Axel could finally have his blond.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel pushed Roxas into their room as soon as Kairi fell asleep. The moment the door closed behind them, the redhead was pulling the other's shirt over his head. Axel nipped at the exposed clavicle and let his hands roam around.

Roxas didn't know what to do. He wanted to copy what the redhead was doing and pull him close but he was terrified at the same time. What if he really didn't have any feelings for this man? As these thoughts went through his head, all Roxas could do was hang onto the black button down shirt Axel was wearing.

Wondering hands made their way to the blond's back, bringing the forgotten pain back to life. A yelp left Roxas' lips and he arched his back to get away from the hands. Axel pulled his hands away from his mate's back to frame his face. Tears were threatening to spill from blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" Axel was starting to panic. If Roxas wanted to stop, he didn't know if he could.

"It...It's just my back," Roxas said through clenched teeth. "I think I slept on it wrong and it's been hurting me all day." Roxas barely got those words out of his mouth before the redhead was guiding him from the wall to the bed.

Once the blond was in the middle of the bed, Axel undid his shirt and threw it to the floor. Roxas could feel his pants get tighter as Axel's smooth skin was revealed. The redhead turned towards the dresser and rummaged through it looking for something. The blond bit his lower lip at the sight of the man's muscular back.

When Axel turned back to the blond, he had a grin on his face and a bottle of lotion in his hand. "Flip on your back," He almost purred. Roxas paled a bit. Axel wanted sex now? And he wanted him on his hands and knees? That was not how the boy pictured his first time. He always thought it would be with someone he truly loved and they would at least start out facing each other. Axel noticed the blond's hesitation so he leaned down and kissed him. Roxas tried to pull away from the taller man but Axel held the boy's head still and pried his mouth open so he could snake his tongue in.

Tongues clashed, one trying to get in and one trying to push the other out. Axel had to pull away when Roxas bit him hard enough to draw blood. He growled. "What the hell's your problem?"

The blond whimpered and tried to scoot away from Axel. His back hit the wall and the pain flared up his spine. Roxas had to bite his lip to stop from crying out. Axel was on the bed in a flash and pulled the other in his arms. Roxas fought. This man didn't love him. He was just using him!

"Let me go!" The yell came from the blond as tears streamed from his eyes.

Axel's arms tightened around the boy. "Roxas, you need to calm down. I'm not going to hurt you."

Roxas shivered from the skin on skin contact and the feel of his mate's breath on the back of his neck, but he refused to give in. "You're only using me for sex. You don't care about me at all!"

"That's not true! What would give you that idea?"

"Y-you just started striping and then demanded me to get on my hands and k-knees, even though I'm in pain and this is my first...first time." Roxas fumbled over his words.

Axel frowned. "You have the wrong idea. I was going to give you a massage to help with your back pain and help you to relax. I didn't want to get any lotion on my shirt so I took it off. But I won't lie to you; I am hoping we could..." Axel paused to think of the right thing to say so the boy wouldn't freak out again. "Make love...?" He felt the blond flinch. Okay, not the best way to put it. "Look Roxas, I know you probably don't want to do this, but your scent is driving me crazy. I don't know how much longer I can hold out. And I know someone else will pick up on it too and they'll be more forceful than me."

"I know," Roxas said in a small voice. "Riku already warned me. But I'm afraid of what will happen afterward." He stopped his fighting and instead snuggled into the redhead, hoping the man's smell would help calm him.

"Nothing bad will happen after so don't worry about it." Axel let go of Roxas and gave the boy some room. "Now lay on your stomach and I'll make your back feel better. We don't need to have sex tonight if you don't want to." Those last words disappointed the redhead even as he said them.

Roxas slowly stretched out on the bed and grabbed Axel's pillow to rest his head on. He stiffened when he felt Axel straddle his upper thigh and poured the thick, slimy liquid on his back. Axel started up at the boy's shoulders and slowly worked the lotion into his skin with skilled hands. Roxas felt like he was melting from the redhead working out all the kinks and stress out of his back. He almost moaned.

When Axel hit the middle of his back, Roxas yelped and clutched onto the pillow so hard his knuckles turned white. The redhead noticed and moved his hands so the muscles around the spot would relax again. Axel left light kisses at the base of Roxas' neck and slowly worked his way down the blond's spine until he was bent in an awkward way and, mimicking what Roxas did earlier with Kairi, kissed the spot that was giving his mate trouble.

His hands climbed back up the boy's back, still working at the blond's muscles, and whispered. "Does it still hurt?"

Roxas shuttered. He was completely surrounded by Axel. His scent was on the pillow and radiating off of the man. He could feel Axel's warmth coming off of his half naked body as he hovered over him. The feel of skin on skin contact. The final straw was Axel's voice whispering in his ear.

He couldn't take it anymore. Roxas flipped over and pulled Axel down for a kiss in one movement. It caught the redhead by surprise and, for a moment, Roxas dominated their kiss. Once he registered what was going on, though, the redhead took control.

Only when air was desperately needed did the two break apart. Roxas went straight for the other's neck and started to bite and lick at it. Axel moaned as he played with the boy's pants.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Roxas didn't answer but bit harder on the junction between Axel's neck and shoulder. Axel took it as a yes and pulled down the blond's pants and boxers. He was happy to find the boy was already half hard. Roxas' mouth left Axel's neck when he let out a gasp from the redhead grabbing him and start to slowly pump him. The blond rocked his hips to quicken the pace.

"Nnn...Need more," Roxas moaned out. He spread his legs apart to make more room for Axel to settle in. The redhead gladly took up the new space but his hand left the boys member. He reached for the forgotten lotion.

Once he had his fingers covered in the liquid, Axel brought them down to the boy's entrance. Before he pushed one through, he looked at his mate with a serious expression. "This is going to hurt so I need to relax. Don't tense up." Roxas nodded his head and moved his hips so the fingers were pushing against him. His mind was going crazy from all the Heat and lust.

Without wasting another moment, Axel leaned down to capture the blond's lips and pushed a finger in at the same time. Roxas barely noticed the intruding finger and rocked his hips back on it. When Axel thought Roxas was used to it, he added another. This stung as it stretched out the blond and he pulled away from Axel, hissing in pain.

Axel's unoccupied mouth went to one of Roxas' nipples and he started to lick and bite it until it was a hard nub. This took the blond's mind off of the fingers. He gasped and pulled at Axel's hair as encouragement.

When it came time to add the third finger, Axel was happy that his mate didn't tense at all. Doing the massage must have helped a lot.

Roxas whined when the feeling of the fingers weren't enough anymore. Axel left the boy's chest and chuckled. "Do you want more?" His voice was low and husky.

"Y-yes! More. Ple-please!" The boy was a pile of ecstasy from all the pleasure the redhead was giving him. Axel pulled away from Roxas, making his fingers slip out of the blond as well; Roxas whined at the empty feeling. The redhead lifted himself so he was balancing on his knees and tugged off his pants as fast as he could.

With Axel's scent no longer surrounding Roxas, his mind cleared up a bit. He turned his head and watched his mate finish stripping. Before the redhead could climb back onto the bed, though, Roxas stopped him. "Get the condoms out of the dresser."

Axel gave him a confused look. What the hell are condoms? But he did as his mate asked and riffled through the drawers until he found the strange orange box that was in the bathroom earlier. Guessing that was it, he jumped back on the bed and handed it to Roxas.

The blond sat up, tore the box open and grabbed a small tin square out of it. Axel raised an eyebrow as Roxas opened the square with his teeth and pulled out a round thing. "Here, put this on." Roxas handed the thing over to the older male. Axel just gave him a confused look. "You put it on your...ummm...thing... and it helps prevent pregnancy." When Axel still didn't do anything, Roxas huffed and grabbed the condom from the Lycanthrope. "I'll do it for you."

A moan got caught in the redhead's throat when he felt Roxas' hand on his penis. The moan died when he felt something being rolled onto it. He looked down and saw the strange object was on him.

Roxas smiled, laid back down and dragged his mate back down with him. He didn't waste any time in kissing Axel and ran his hands over the strong body. Axel soon forgot about the condom and kissed the other back.

Carefully, Axel pushed into the boy. Roxas moaned at the feeling of being stretched. His nails dug into the muscular back. The redhead hissed but the pain was soon forgotten at the feeling of being inside the blond.

The two didn't waste any time, setting a fast pace. Roxas' back was arched so all he felt was Axel. After one hard thrust, all Roxas saw was white and he screamed out in pleasure when his prostate was hit.

Axel liked that noise coming from the boy and kept hitting that spot over and over. Axel sped up his assault on the boy's prostate.

Roxas' orgasm exploded all over his and Axel's stomachs. It only took a few more thrusts from Axel until he finally came. He waited until he could see straight again before he pulled out. Roxas reached over, pulled the condom off of him and tied it before he threw it in the trash beside the bed.

Sleep overcame the two and they stayed cuddled together under their blankets for the rest of the night.


	14. Next Morning

Axel let out a content sigh as he nuzzled into his mate's blond hair. Last night had been the best night of his life. Though he could have gone without the, what were they called? Condumbs? Yeah, that sounds right. The redhead thought. He didn't like how they prevented him from getting as close to Roxas as he would have liked. But if it makes Roxas happy...

Speaking of the blond, he was still sleeping and Axel was at war with himself. He needed to wake the boy up so they could take a shower and change the bed sheets before Kairi woke up, but Roxas just looked so cute when he was sleeping.

Not wanting his sister to come in and ask questions she was too young to know the answer for, Axel stroked the blond's arm. When he got no response, he shook the arm a bit. Roxas mumbled something unintelligent and rolled over so he could bury his face in Axel's side. The squirming had caused the blanket to lower. Green eyes couldn't help but wonder down the slim body that came into view. To Axel's demise, the blanket was resting on the boy's hips and mid-thigh.

A devilish thought crept into Axel's head. If he moved just a bit, the rest of the blanket would come off of the sleeping blond.

"Don't even think about it," Roxas said into Axel's side. When the redhead wasn't paying attention to his face, the blond had opened his eyes and was watching his mate. He would have to be an idiot to not know where his mind roamed. Roxas grabbed two fistfuls of the blanket and pulled it until only his blue eyes and hair peeked out from underneath.

It really had been a shock to the poor boy to wake up naked and next to a hot redhead who was just as naked as him. Roxas didn't need to be in Heat to know how attractive Axel was. From his long flaming red hair that styled itself naturally to his green eyes that got an eerie glow when he was in darkness for too long. From his unique tattoos to his lithe build.

A blush made its way to Roxas's face as he checked out his mate. The taller man just laid there in all his glory. Axel exuded self-confidence, a fact that made Roxas jealous. Roxas knew his whole body was covered in a deep red blush.

"How can you do that?" Roxas mumbled around the blanket. Axel raised an eyebrow in confusion. "How are you not embarrassed by being naked?" As he talked, Roxas sank deeper and deeper into his fabric barrier.

Axel chuckled and rolled over so he was hovering over the blond with his elbows supporting his weight on either side of the boy's head so he wouldn't crush him. Roxas gave a small gasp. "Well, Roxy, you have seen me naked before." Axel whispered into the blond's ear and gave the lobe a quick nip.

Roxas bit back a moan from his mate's actions while the blush on his body grew deeper in color. The memories of what he and Axel did at Fran's burrow a few nights ago came flooding back. He blamed doing that on the Heat and the impulse that Lycathropes were known for.

Before he knew what was happening, cold air hit Roxas's overly heated skin. Axel had managed to pull Roxas out of his fabric haven. Long finger traced lines down his body, making sure to touch every dip and curve with special attention on the angle of his sharp hips. The redhead was overjoyed that he could call the angelic boy under him his.

Roxas, on the other hand, didn't know what to think. He thought his feelings for Axel would sort themselves out when they had sex. But with Axel so close to him and touching him in such a way, the blond was having a hard time figuring things out. The redhead's smell wasn't as intense anymore. His touch not as hot.

And just like that Roxas knew what it meant.

With a hard push, Roxas managed to get the redhead off of him. Once free, Roxas dashed off to the safety of the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, he was happy that Kairi was still fast asleep.

He slid down so he was leaning against the tub with his head leaned back on the edge. The sound of Axel banging on the door came.

"Roxas! What's wrong? Please talk to me!" Axel pleaded from the hall. He was worried he might have gone a little too far with Roxas. With one last knock Axel put his hand down, he knew Roxas wasn't going to let him in, "I'm going out for a few hours. I'll be back before noon." The redhead said before walking back in the bedroom.

When he was back in the room with the door closed, Axel proceeded to strip the bed of its soiled sheets and wiped the mess from the previous night off of him. He grabbed clothes out of his dresser drawer and threw the sheets into a basket. He would take them down to the lake and have them cleaned up.

Axel closed the door softly so the echo wouldn't wake up his sister. He was happy to hear the shower was on but felt his heart drop when his ears picked up the soft sounds of his mate crying.

~X~x~X~x~

"Zexion!" A silver wolf yelled from the top of his 'throne', which was really just rubble from the original throne that used to hold the great leaders of the once proud pack.

A small boy with one visible blue eye, who had yet to reach maturity, approached the rubble of rocks. "Yes?" He hissed.

Xemnas glared down at the boy, his gold eyes burning holes into his skull. "Yes, what?"

"Yes...Superior." The words fell from his lips sounded robotic and rehearsed.

"I want you to sniff out a Lycanthrope in Heat. Vexen spotted him a few miles away going east. I need you to find him and bring him back before tonight." Zexion opened his mouth to object; he did have the best sense of smell in the pack but that didn't mean he could find someone in mere hours. Xemnas cut him off. "I want him here before tonight or don't bother coming back."

Zexion gulped. It was an empty threat for an immature pup that was no problem but, once he hit maturity, he would be free game and Xemnas would probably have him hunted down and killed.

Without another word, the steel-blue haired teen set off on his mission. The sliver wolf smirked. Things were going exactly to plan.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas sighed as he rested his head on top of his knees. He didn't know what to do; he couldn't go home, even though Braska said he could visit. The offer only meant he could stay a few days. And he didn't feel like he could stay at the den anymore. How could he face Axel after what he did?

He lifted his head so he could look at the sun as it started to rise up from the horizon. Kairi would be up in about an hour.

The blond let out another sigh as he wondered when Axel would be back.

"You know, sighing so much this early in the morning is bad for your health." Roxas's turned his head to the side, his eyes wide with surprise. Leaning against a tree was a man with long red hair tied in a ponytail. His sharp blue eyes were glued on Roxas. "I think that's something you said once, yo."

Blue eyes glared at blue. "You're just a figment of my imagination. Go away! I don't want to hear it right now!" Roxas stood up with some difficulty, since his rear end still hurt from the night before, and clenched his hands into fist at his sides all the while staring down the redhead in front of him.

Reno grinned at Roxas. "I'm not imaginary. Have you ever heard of a ghost?"

"Ghosts aren't real," The blond said with his eyes narrowed. This man wasn't real. Reno was dead and ghosts were just in stories told to little kids to scare them.

The redhead pushed off of the tree and walked over to the blond with his hands on his hips. "Do you believe everything you're told, yo? Was it the same person who told you that Mystics weren't real?" Reno stopped walking when he was a few centimeters away from the boy. He cocked his head to the side as he waited for an answer.

Roxas growled low in his throat. This wasn't possible. Even if he was a ghost, why is he only letting Roxas see him? His son was God knows where probably having a crisis. And his daughter was just a few feet away sleeping. Why is he bothering a boy that he's never met before?

"Go away," Roxas muttered to himself. "Go away. You're not real." The blond closed his eyes and covered his ears as he sank down to the ground.

"Roxas?" A quiet feminine voice sounded above him. Blue eyes opened and looked up at a worried Kairi. She was still in her pajamas and her hair was a mess; it looked like she just woke up. Her big blue eyes looked down at Roxas with tears in them. "I heard you and Big Brother fighting earlier," She said while sliding down next to the blond. "You're going to leave us, aren't you?"

Roxas's eyes widened in shock. How can she think that? "Kairi, I would never leave you." The blond tried to pull the little girl into a hug but she just shrugged him off of her.

"Yes you are!" More tears poured down her small face. "Everyone always leaves. Mommy and daddy left. The pack left. Big Brother's not here. You're going to leave next." She covered her face with her hands, trying to stop the tears. "You think just because I'm young I don't know what's going on. But I know you hate us."

"That's not true!" Roxas yelled a little too loudly.

Kairi stood up at the blond's loud voice. Tears were flowing down her face. She opened her mouth to say something but only a choking noise came out. Without hesitation, Kairi closed her mouth and bolted into the forest faster than Roxas could blink.

Roxas cursed as he got to his feet. He tried to take off after her but stumbled a bit on the first couple of steps. The pain in his back side was too much. If he wanted a chance of chasing the girl, he would have to shift into a wolf; then he would have his front paws to lean on and not have all of his weight on his back.

The blond did a quick scan of his surroundings to make sure no one was around before he threw his clothes off, transformed into his small wolf form and took off after Kairi.

~X~x~X~x~

Cloud burst into his grandfather's house. "Squall!" He yelled as he stormed into the house and slammed the front door behind him. There was no one in the dark room. The blond huffed. Where the hell are they? He walked farther into the house until he saw a light leaking out from under the door that lead to the kitchen.

"Ow! Not so rough!" A voice said on the other side of the door; it was Squall.

"If you hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much." Another voice, Braska, said.

There were a few grunts before a new voice spoke. "Okay, now Tree Nymph." The voice was harsh and Cloud guessed it belonged to his uncle. "Where's Sora?"

Blue eyes narrowed. His hyper, younger brother never came home for school yesterday and that's why he was here. Without a second thought, Cloud burst through the kitchen door. The first thing he noticed was a shirtless Squall sitting on a chair with a large strip of gauze taped from the top of his right eye and going across his nose. There was also gauze wrapped around his entire left arm. Braska was fretting over him and was looking over the Nymph's exposed torso for any more wounds. Leaning against the sink was Auron. Cloud could feel his uncle's eyes burning into his.

"What are you doing here?" The middle aged man asked in his usual growl.

Cloud glared right back at the man. "I could ask you the same question," He growled back. The blond believed this was a matter between him, Squall, and Braska; Auron had no reason to be there.

"Calm down, you two. Cloud, Auron knows everything. I thought it would be best if we had some more brawns, you know, just if something happens. And Cloud's just here to see his boyfriend." Braska said, trying to be the peace keeper.

The accused couple sent death glares at the poor man. His savior came when Auron cleared his throat. "As much as I'd like to hear about these two, I'm more curious about Sora's whereabouts." His sunglass covered eyes burning holes into Squall's stormed colored ones.

"I saw Sora in Vexen's lab. So I waited outside and listened to their conversation. For a good half hour, it seemed like Vexen was trying to help Sora with his science work. I was about to leave when he started to ask Sora about Roxas and why he hasn't been in school. Sora tried to avoid it by saying he was sick but Vexen wouldn't have any of that. He kept pushing the matter. Sora was holding his own for a while, but after a while there was a crash. I rushed in and saw Sora collapsed on the ground. Vexen seemed shocked to see me but it didn't last long. He grabbed a test tube, I'm not sure what was in it, and threw it at me." Squall looked down at his damaged arm. "Once it hit me, I caught on fire. While I was distracted Vexen ran up to me and clawed at my face." A hand touched the injury on his face like in his mind he was reliving it. "There was so much blood. It blinded me. I don't remember what happened after that."

"I found him passed out in the lab when Braska asked me to go find him." Auron said.

Squall looked down at his hands in shame. He should have been able to protect the boy, but he failed. He jumped a bit when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. The Nymph looked up expecting Braska but instead saw Cloud.

The boy looked down at the Nymph with sad, sympathetic eyes. Squall had tried his best and Cloud knew that he wasn't expecting the creepy Lycanthrope to act as fast as he did.

"I want to go back into Canta Forest." Cloud said looking at his grandfather, his hand still on Squall's shoulder.

"You can't. Humans can't go in there without a Mystic." Auron's cold voice made Cloud's eyes focus on him.

"Then I'll go. It's my fault this happened in the first place." Squall pushed the blond's hand off of his shoulder and stood up and made a grab for his shirt that was on the table.

Cloud pulled the brunet back by grabbing his forearm, causing the Nymph to hiss in pain. "You're hurt. Stay here and rest. I'll just wonder around until I find Roxas and tell him what's going on. Once I find him, I'll be able to move around freely."

"That will only work if you find Roxas before something else finds you." Stormy eyes glared at ocean blue. "You stay here and keep an eye on Vexen if he comes back and I'll find Roxas and Axel. I can get Axel to kill Xemnas and he can take over the pack. Then Sora will be safe."

Braska spoke. "Xemnas? Is he Reno's successor?" Every pair of eyes in the room stared at the old man. "What? He was well known and often stopped by to inform me on what was happening in the forest. He was a very nice man. Is Axel his son? That would explain why he looked so familiar when I first met him." Braska kept rambling as he tried to explain.

"He is," Squall said. "And he one of the worst pack leaders. He lets the pack run wild and they cause destruction everywhere they go. Reno was teaching Axel how to lead them since he was a pup so I want him to kill Xemnas. I live in the forest so I'll go and find Axel and help bring Sora back."

"Oh, will you shut the fuck up?" Cloud screamed in Squall's face. He was getting sick and tired of how stubborn the Nymph was being. "What if something attacks you? You're hurt, how will you defend yourself?"

Auron huffed at them. This lover's spat was getting old. "Both of you are going," He said in a commanding voice. "You," He pointed at Squall, "will help guide Cloud. While you," He pointed at his nephew, "defend the Mystic." He then pointed at Braska. "And you, stay out of their love life." He then walked out of the kitchen leaving three embarrassed men behind.


	15. Finding Kairi

Tree Nymphs are gentle creatures that inhabit Canta Forest until something threatens their home, and then they can turn into your worst nightmare. It is said that the Nymphs had an earthly look to them accompanied with an eerie green aura. This hasn't be proven as very few humans have seen one.

Unlike most Mystics, Tree Nymphs are not immortal. Any damage done to their tree will inflict damage on the Nymph and vice versa.

On rare occasions, they will take on a human partner. The chosen human is referred to as a "Flower Child". The Flower Child's purpose is to help the Nymph take care of its tree and, as a reward, gets to share the same life span as the Nymph. Their health will also help keep the tree alive longer.

If the Nymph's tree is going to die soon, the Nymph will take a human for the soul purpose of using them to help restore the tree.

Cloud shut the copy of The Early Myths of Bevelle. His blue eyes traveled up the tree that his companion called 'home'. One of the branches was burnt and hanging by a splinter. After assessing the damage, his blue eyes turned to Squall, who stared with his mouth open. Cloud reached over and tapped the Nymph's jaw close.

"Hey, it's okay. Everything will be fine." His hand moved from Squall's jaw down to his shoulder and he gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Squall swiped the hand away and glared at the blond man. "Shut the fuck up! You don't know anything!" The Nymph growled. He stomped in the direction of Axel's den.

Cloud watched the Nymph leave. His heart dropped at the sight. Blue eyes widened as Cloud shook his head. No way. Not going to happen.

~X~x~X~x~

"Kairi!" Roxas yelled. He had been running for a couple hours and all he had come across so far was a pile of Kairi's pajamas, meaning she was either running around butt naked, or in wolf form. Roxas half hoped it was the former. The little girl was already faster than him in her human form; he wouldn't stand a chance if she shifted.

Quietly scolding himself for not running in his wolf form more often, Roxas took off in the direction that Kairi's scent was coming from.

He ran for what felt like miles when Kairi's scent vanished. Roxas looked for any clues or smell. Nothing. Roxas thought to go back but he didn't leave a trail or anything to the den.

Maybe I'm not far from the den, Roxas thought. The blond wolf threw his head back and howled, hoping that Axel was back home and would hear him. Find me. Please.

Roxas strained his ears so he wouldn't miss a sound. Just when the blond thought no one heard him, a howl replied.

Axel! Axel found me! Roxas's tail started to wag. He howled back and ran through the dense forest, not paying attention to where he was going. He didn't need to; Axel was here!

But something in his gut told Roxas something wasn't right. But Roxas, being as naive as he was, didn't pay any thought to it and kept running. He didn't slow down until his legs were couldn't run. Then the scent of the other wolf hit his nose. It wasn't Axel. It was something or someone he had never met before. Then he saw him.

He was a small steel colored wolf with his nose to the ground. He was looking for something. The only other Lycathrops that Roxas knew lived in the forest were Axel, Kairi, and the pack that killed their parents.

Roxas crouched down and crept backwards so he could watch unnoticed. As he backed away, a stray stick found its way under the blond's back paw with a loud snap.

The steel wolf's head shot up and his deep blue eyes landed on the frightened blond. A growl came from the back of his throat as he glared down at the other.

"I've never seen you before." The stranger walked closer to Roxas and sniffed the air around him. "And you don't seem to be in Heat." He walked a circle around and continued to sniff. "But you do smell of Axel."

"What's it to you?" Roxas growled back. The fur on his back stood straight up. This Lycanthrope knew Axel, which meant he was from the pack.

"I have orders to bring you to the Superior. And it would be bad for me if you didn't come."

Roxas crouched lower and barred his teeth. "Like hell I'll go with you."

The other wolf copied Roxas's pose and the two stared the other down, daring the other to make the first move. Roxas didn't know how strong this other wolf was. He was hesitant to attack. They just stood there for what felt like hours. Roxas was getting tired of the tension building up but, before he could jump, the other wolf spoke.

"You know, before I left to find you, I saw Vexen bring a human boy to our den. He smelt of you." Roxas stopped growling and gaped at the other. The steel wolf smirked. "I wonder what would happen to him if you didn't come with me."

Roxas looked down at the ground in defeat. They have Sora? No, they can't. Squall said he'd protect him! The blond looked back up at the other wolf to counter but the look in the other's eyes told him that he wasn't lying.

What other choice did Roxas have? The pack had his twin brother! So the blond lowered his head in submission to the other. "Please don't hurt him."

The steel wolf's smirk widened. "Come with me." He turned and walked back to his den with Roxas following close behind.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel was down at the lake, scrubbing the evidence of last night off of his bed sheets. He was thinking about what he was going to do with Roxas. He loved the boy and nothing in the world would change that.

With a sigh, the redhead pulled down the clothes he had draped a couple of days earlier and replaced them with wet ones. As he worked his way down the line, Axel found Roxas's red hoodie in his hands. He couldn't help the smile that worked its way onto his face as he remembered the first time he saw the blond. Roxas was wearing the hoodie. He looked just so damn adorable in it.

The redhead brought it up to his nose and was disappointed that Roxas' smell had vanished from the fabric. Axel didn't want to admit it but, in the short two hours he'd been gone, he missed his blond mate.

Axel hurried up and finished the laundry so he could get back to his den.

~X~x~X~x~

After running a few miles away from the den, Kairi's clothes were starting to stick to her from sweat. So she shifted.

Once she was in her wolf form, the sound of Roxas chasing her was getting closer. The young she-wolf hurried and ran off, leaving her discarded clothes behind. She paid special attention to kicking dirt everywhere so her scent would be of no help.

Kairi ran for miles before she heard a long howl. It was Roxas. Kairi had to bite her tongue in order not to answer. It was quiet for a few moments and Kairi was losing her resolve. As upset as she was with her brother's mate, she was confused as to why he was following her. Didn't he hate her and her brother? Didn't he want to leave, just like everyone else?

Why was he following her?

Maybe he cares about you. Maybe he won't leave like the others. A small voice said in the back of her mind.

That small thought broke whatever resistance Kairi had. The small red-brunet wolf opened her mouth to howl back but, before any noise could come, a reply howl came a few miles away on her right.

Her blue eyes widened. That wasn't Axel or Riku. That only meant it was either a rouge or someone from the pack. Ever since her parents died Axel always told her to beware of anyone, aside from Riku, from the pack.

Kairi wanted to go run towards Roxas and warn him but he was closer than her. And what if there was more than one Lycathrop? She wouldn't be able to handle fighting them. Her best bet would be to go back to the den and tell Axel.

She turned and ran back the way she came while keeping an eye open in case she saw Roxas.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel stared at the mouth of the cave that led to his home. Inside was Roxas. Correction. Inside was an upset Roxas who didn't want to see Axel at the moment, or ever.

The redhead looked down at the basket in front of him and tapped it with his foot as he debated with himself. He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear someone enter the small clearing till they ran straight into his back. Axel turned and growled at the person with his teeth bared.

Fierce green eyes calmed down once Axel took in the form of a crying Kairi. The girl was clinging to her brother's leg with her face pressed against his hip. It wasn't till Axel was able to pry the girl off of him and kneel down to her level that he noticed the girl was naked.

Axel pulled out one of his shirts and slipped it over the girl's head.

"Shhh...It's okay Kairi. Everything is fine." Axel cooed into his sister's ear as he pulled her in a tight hug. He didn't know what was wrong but he would say or do anything to make Kairi stop crying.

The small girl squirmed till she could look him in the eye. "I-it's Roxas." Kairi saw her brother tense.

"Kairi," Axel said in a quiet voice. "Where did Roxas go?" Thoughts of Roxas running away were going through the redhead's mind. And Axel didn't want to go chase after his mate; he knew if he did then Roxas would get upset at Axel for stopping him. The last thing Axel wanted was to make the small blond angrier at him.

"The pack got him! It's my fault! He was just looking for me and..." A loud wail and tears stopped the girl from finishing her sentence as she clung to her brother and whimpered apologies into his neck.

The arms wrapped around Kairi's body tightened. Green eyes glared at the forest. Axel's mate was lost somewhere out there and possibly in danger. He had to do something.

"I'm going to go find him." Axel's voice was quiet but a fierce anger boiled behind it. "I want you to go inside and don't come out. I'll try to send Fran down to watch over you." The older of the two redheads pulled away and looked down at his baby sister. "Do as she tells you. I'll be back soon, I promise."

Axel kissed Kairi's forehead before he ran into the forest as fast as he could. He needed to find Roxas before anything could happen to the blond.

Kairi stood outside the den and watched her brother's back as he ran. The small girl looked up at the sky. The sun was at its highest; the Heartless wouldn't be out for a few more hours. She then hauled the basket of clothes into the den.


	16. Finding Sora

Sora groaned as he rolled onto his side and clutched his head. He tried to open his eyes but the harsh sun light that assaulted him made him clench them shut. Someone poked at his cheek. The brunet turned his head and mumbled. "Five more minutes, Mom."

"Wake up!" A hand made contact with his face, pain radiating through his cheek.

Blood pounded in his head. He held his head in an effort to stop the world from spinning.. When the pain ebbed, Sora lifted his head to see who was with him. It was a boy with long, straight, silver hair and beautiful aqua eyes.

"Who..who are you?" The brunet choked out after a few tense seconds.

"You're Sora."

Said boy just blinked at that answer. "I know who I am. Who. Are. You." Sora said it slowly to make sure the strange boy understood him.

"No, I mean you're Sora!" The slivered-hair man said again and pointed at Sora. "Roxas's brother."

"Oh good, you know Roxas!" Sora jumped up and looked around at his surroundings. He was outside in what looked like in the middle of a . There were numerous caves in the holes but they were all too deep to see inside of. "I'll ask you again, who are you and where am I?"

Before the other boy could answer a low growl came from behind him. "Riku." Both boys turned towards the new voice.

"Xigbar." Riku said back. Xigbar was at least a head taller than Riku and much more intimidating. He wore an eye patch and on the other side of his face there was a long jagged scar. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off with your mate teaching your pups how to hunt?"

"As if. Demyx wanted to take them down to the lake and teach them how to swim. And I got orders to keep an eye on you, since you know the Superior doesn't trust you, and make sure you don't help the prisoner escape." The older man turned towards Sora, "How do you like it here kiddo?"

"Who the fuck are you people and how the hell do you know Roxas!" Sora's anger built up in his veins.. Why wouldn't anyone answer him?

"This kid got spirit. I like it." Xigbar grinned down at the brunet. "Personally, I don't know him and I don't know why we need you here." He turned towards Riku. "I bet you know Roxas though. We all know that you sneak out to see Axel so you must have had a run in with his 'mate' once or twice." He spat out the word as if it burned his mouth. The.

"No, I'm pretty sure their mated." Sora said absentmindedly while he studied the area around him. From what he could gather he was in Canta Forest. But he couldn't remember for the life of him how he got there. The only reason he wasn't freaking out was because from what Xigbar said about him being a prisoner and that they knew Roxas and Axel meant that they were using him as bait.

If Sora just kept calm and didn't do anything that would put the three of them in danger then he knew that his twin would come for him. He wanted to hear it from his captures but seeing as how they wouldn't talk it was best to just drop it. "Roxas was dead set on it last I saw him." The brunet had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop a laugh from escaping. It was just too funny to him. "By the way, are you guys those wolf creature things? I asked Roxas to change for me but he refused. Can you change for me?" Sora gave the two Lycanthropes his best puppy eyes and pouted his lips.

Xigbar and Riku just looked at one another as if they were having a silent conversation. They held each other's gaze for the longest time before Riku through his arms in the air and yelled, "Fine! You win! I'll do it!" The sliver Lycanthrope grabbed the bottom of his shirt and stripped it off. Once that was gone he started to work on his pants.

By this point Sora's face was red. "What are you doing? Stop that!" His hands flew to his eyes as the other boy started to take off his underwear.

"I can't change for you with my clothes on."

Sora seemed to hesitate. He really wanted to see the change.

"Come on kiddo, it's not like he's working with equipment different  
than yours." Xigbar jabbed Sora with his elbow. "Now are you gonna keep being so shy?" He pulled Sora's hands away from his face and made him face the other Lycanthrope. "Come one Riku finish your strip tease!"

~X~x~X~x~

Axel doubled over painting. He just made it to the outskirts of Fran's burrow and the sun was starting it's decent down; he only had a few hours to find Roxas and bring him back home.

"Fran!" There was no response. Axel cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled for the Viera again. This time however Fran appeared on the other side of the clearing carrying a bag full of, what Axel could guess, berries.

"Axel?" Fran looked at the young Lycanthrope. His messy red hair was even messier then normal and he was doubled over, panting. "Is everything alright?" She carefully put her bag down and approached her former charge.

Once the redhead caught his breath, he looked up at Fran. "I need you to go to my den and watch Kairi for me."

"You know I can't do that." Fran shook her head as she said that. "I need to stay here in case someone needs my help. You know thi-"

"It's for Roxas!" Axel yelled. Fran looked startled by his outburst. The look in her dark eyes made the redhead feel bad. "Look," he said quietly. "The pack took him. I need to go after him. If anything were to happen...Gods he already hates me. I just-"

"I get it." The Vera put a comforting hand on Axel's shoulder. "I'll be there. Just hurry."

Axel stood to his full height and pulled Fran into a back-breaking hug. "Thank you." He pushed her away and took off into the forest.

~X~x~X~x~

Roxas's back hurt. He had been walking with Zexion for miles without a break. But he didn't notice any of this; all of his thoughts were focused on his missing twin.

Was Sora alright? What was the pack doing with him? Was he back at home and this whole thing a trap?

Then his thoughts went.

Where was Kairi? Was she alright? How was he going to apologize to Axel for losing his only sister and for what he did earlier that day? Would his mate forgive him?

"We're here." Zexion broke the silence that fell upon them since Roxas willing left with him.

Roxas looked up at the rocky mountain and gulped. It's for Sora. That's what was running though the blond's head as he slowly made his way up the mountain.

At one point Roxas considered giving up. The only thing that kept him going was Zexion's voice, that seemed to be coming from miles ahead of him, reminding him that his brother was just on the other side.

It took longer than Zexion would have liked, but eventually the blond wolf made his way across the mountain. Once his front paws hit the grass on the other side he turned towards Roxas and helped him with his last few steps.

"Roxas? Is that you?"

The two Lycanthropes turned towards the voice. "Sora?" Roxas looked at his brother as he rode on a silver wolf's back. "Riku?"

Sora's big blue eyes went a fraction bigger as he climbed off of the silver wolf and ran towards the blond one. "Roxas! It is you!" The brunet threw his arms around his brother and pulled him into a tight bear hug.

Roxas couldn't breathe with his brother's arms digging into his windpipes. When his eyes started to water from the lack of oxygen, Sora was finally dragged off Thankfully Riku had yanked the boy off by the back of his shirt and pulled him off.

"Come with me. I'll lend you some clothes." Riku growled through a mouthful of Sora's dirty shirt. He then turned and drag the flailing brunet with him. Roxas looked around him. Zexion had disappeared and the other man was walking, towards a sandy blond wolf, a golden pup, and two black pups that were running towards him and yipping happily.

Roxas's heart gave a little jump as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. All of the pups gathered around the man and tried to climb up his long legs. One of them got to about his kneecap before his claws gave out. The man just laughed as he bent down to scoop the little one up and scratch it behind the ears.

The sandy blond walked towards his mate and pups and gave the dark haired man a quick lick to his check before he picked up one of the pups by its scruff and started to walk into one of the many dens.

Roxas couldn't help but feel jealous. He felt like he wanted...no, needed something like that. But with his and Axel's relationship still so rocky, were they ready?

He shook his head of such thoughts and walked towards the den he saw Riku and Sora disappear in, unaware golden eyes followed his every move.

~X~x~X~x~

It was well past noon when Cloud and Squall arrived at the den..

"I don't think their home," Cloud said as he peeked inside the dark cave. He looked back at his companion. "What's the plan now? I think you should wait here-"

"I go where you go." The brunet crossed his arms across his chest. "You'll just get lost and attacked by Heartless when it gets dark." His storm blue eyes narrowed at the blond. "Don't even try to argue over this again. We'll both wait here till they get back." The Nymph leaned against a tree and glared at Cloud.

Cloud glared back at Squall but made no attempt to argue. Instead, he huffed, turned away from the Nymph and gave the book he stole from Braska his full attention.

There is one way for a Tree Nymph to become immortal. If a Tree Nymph can find another Tree Nymph, they can partner up and their life lines will combine. Then they and their tree's will become immortal.

that Tree Nymphs are very hard to find. You're lucky if there's one in every forest or even a small wooded area. That is why Tree Nymphs will usually partner with a human.

Cloud reread the two paragraphs over and over then his eyes travailed from the book over towards the broken Nymph. Squall felt the human's eyes on him because he turned his head to look back. Cloud's mouth go dry as words flooded out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"I can help you fix your tree."

Cloud was expecting the other to be surprised but instead his face was blank. "Did you read that in your silly little book?" He lifted his injured arm up to his face and took to examining the bandages then to look at the blond. "It'll heal on its own. Don't drag yourself deeper into our world then you already have. Once this is over, I don't want you to ever come into this forest again." His eyes were too focused on his wrapped up arm so he didn't see the hurt that flashed through sky blue eyes.

"But don't yo-"

"Squall?" Cloud's tiny voice was cut off by a tall woman with long white bunny ears. "What are you doing here? And why's a human...Your face!" Cloud noticed that Squall had straightened at the sound of her voice, his shoulders tensing up. But nothing prepared the blond for the mini heart attack he had. The white haired woman rushed up to the Tree Nymph, grabbed his face in both of her hands and pulled him closer. "What happened here?" One of her hands left his check to trace the gauze that went across the brunet's nose. She had to shift the bag on her back to avoid losing her balance as she leaned closer to the Nymph than he was comfortable with.

"A Lycanthrope attacked me."

The Viera pulled away. "I can treat that for you. I guess you're here to see Axel. He's not here and I'm stuck on babysitting duties till he gets back with Roxas." Fran turned away from the two men and started to walk into the den.

Squall slowly followed. When he passed Cloud, he grabbed the human by his arm and pulled on it till the blond followed as well.

Once the two were down the trap door, Cloud clung to the Nymph's arm as Squall used his natural glow to light their way down the long, dark hallway. When they got to Kairi's room, they saw a dim light coming out so Cloud released the Nymph and walked towards the light.

Inside the room, the Viera was kneeling beside a twin sized bed and was running her fingers through Kairi's shoulder length hair. The light was coming from a small orb that was in Fran's other hand.

"Where's Roxas?" Cloud starred down the Viera.

Fran continued to give Kairi all of her attention the girl started to cry. After a good minute or two, she finally got the young brunet to stop crying and turned towards Cloud. "I don't know. Axel came to me and asked me to watch Kairi so he could find Roxas."

"It's my fault," A quiet forgotten voice said from behind Fran. Kairi stood from the bed and grabbed onto the Viera's long legs like it was a shield between her and the angry blond. "I tried to run away earlier and Roxas went looking for me."

"So, he's lost in the forest?" Squall asked. He looked over at Cloud. "I bet you want to go look for him as well?"

"Hell yeah I do! Now I have two brother's missing!"

"We should get going before it gets dark then." Squall turned to leave the small room but was stopped by long, polished fingernails digging into his shoulder.

"Let me take a look at your injuries first." Fran spun the Nymph around and sat him on Kairi's bed. With a careful hand, Fran tore off the bandage that was on Squall's face. She studied it for a while before she turned to Cloud. "You're the Flower Child right? Come here and give him some energy." She motioned for the blond to come closer with her index finger but Cloud never moved from his spot.

Before Fran could ask what was wrong, Squall spoke up. "He's not a Flower Child. I'm just helping him find his brothers."

The Viera nodded in understanding. "I have medicine I can use to prevent infection but without help from another I'm afraid it will scar." She swung the bag off of her shoulder and rummaged through it till she found a bottle of purple liquid and a clean piece of cloth. "Now hold still. This is going to sting a lot." Fran poured some of the purple stuff onto the cloth and pressed it to Squall's face.

Kairi quietly made her way over to Cloud as the boy watched the Nymph attempt to pull away from the stinging medicine but held in place by the Viera's other hand holding the back of his head.

"Uncle," The girl pulled on the blond's shirt till he tore his eyes from the Nymph and was looking at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

Cloud wanted to yell at her. He really did. But one look at the Lycanthrope's eyes made him bite the inside of his cheek. How could he yell at someone who resembled his little sister so much? Instead he kneeled to her level and pulled her into a hug. "It's fine. Axel probably found him already and they're on their way back already."

Kairi shook her head and Cloud could feel her crying on his neck. "Bad guys have him."

Cloud tensed, pulled away from the girl and looked over at the other two in the room. Squall's injuries were wrapped in new bandages and him and Fran were looking over at the human and Lycanthrope with small smiles on their faces till they saw the desperate look on the blond's face.

"We have to go."


	17. Finding Axel

Cloud groaned in frustration as the young girl clung to his midsection. "We have to leave. Let go!" He attempted to push Kairi off but the girl latched on tighter.

"No!" Kairi yelled back and buried her face in Cloud's shirt.

A gentle hand went to the little girl's shoulder. "Kairi, you have to let him go. He's going to help Axel bring Roxas back," Fran said in a calm voice. Kairi tried to shake off the hand but Fran kept her grip which made the younger girl tighten her hold on the blond.

"No! If anything happens to Uncle then Roxas would get mad at me and leave!"

Everyone in the room froze with the exception of Kairi who was busy trying to hide her blushing face. Cloud's eye's softened at the sight. The similarities between Kairi and Naminé were uncanny; Cloud couldn't be mean to his sister. Whatever relationship Axel and Roxas had made the small red tinted brunette his sister in-law but the blond did find it adorable that Kairi took to calling him Uncle. But it irked him a bit that the girl didn't have any faith in him.

The blond chuckled, combing his fingers through Kairi's hair. "How weak do you think I am?"

"Very," Squall mumbled.

Cloud glared at the Nymph. He noticed Kairi's grip on him had loosened. He managed to free himself, marched up to the brunet and poked him right in between the eyes. The Nymph flinched away from the pain. "I'm not weak, flower boy," Cloud said, earning a faint giggle come from Kairi.

The blond turned back to the girl. "Are you alright now?" The girl looked at the older blond and nodded though he could tell that she didn't want him to leave. That's all Cloud needed. He turned back to the Nymph. "Let's go."

~X~x~X~x~

"Tell me everything!" Sora squealed like a gossiping teenage girl as he plopped himself onto Riku's bed. Roxas and Riku had changed back and were in the middle of getting dressed, ignoring the brunet at the moment.

Roxas was currently shirtless and rolling up the long legs of Riku's pants. "Do you have a belt?" The blond looked up just in time to grab the strap of leather that was flying towards him. "Thanks." He quickly fastened the belt before turning to Sora. "I'll tell you what's going on after we get you out of here."

Sora was dissatisfied with that answer and pouted at his twin. Before he could rebuttal with anything, Riku said. "I'm guessing you want to get out of here before Axel can show up?" The blond nodded and pulled a shirt on. "I wish I could tell you what Xemnas is planning but he hasn't told anyone. Maybe Saïx knows, but I doubt he'll tell us." The sliveret was dressed and leaning against the door with his arms crossed against his chest.

"Who are Xemnas and Saïx?" Sora tilted his head to the side in confusion. He had no idea what was going on and he was starting to get frustrated with it. The fact that Roxas wasn't answering any of his questions didn't help.

"Xemnas is our pack leader. He only got the position from killing Axel's father, Reno. No one really likes him since Reno did better job than him, but there's nothing much we can do about it," Riku said with a shrug. "Saïx is pretty much his right hand man and strongest supporter. Some think he helped kill both of Axel's parents. He and Axel were friends at one point but their personalities clash so it didn't last long."

Roxas was surprised with the last fact. He knew Riku wasn't Axel's only friend but he didn't suspect Xemnas's supporters would be one of them.

"What about Xigbar?" Sora asked.

"Xigbar doesn't like Xemnas but he doesn't want to put his family in danger so he won't do anything to stop him. It's a pretty cowardly move but I don't hold it against him. If I had a family, I wouldn't risk it either."

Roxas remembered a few nights ago when everyone was at the den talking about what was going on. Riku made a statement suggesting that Axel was going to have to go after Xemnas and become the next leader but the redhead refused. Was it because of his blond mate?

Before he could stop it, Roxas said. "But you want Axel to risk it." Blue eyes narrowed at the sliver haired Lycanthrope.

Riku shook his head. "It's not that I want this to happen but Xemnas thinks Axel's going to try to avenge his parents so he's going to keep coming after you no matter what. And Reno's been grooming Axel since the day he was born to be leader. He's our best bet on saving this pack."

"He's right you know." A new voice said. Roxas's head whipped from Riku towards the new comer. Beside a bored looking Sora sat Reno. He smiled and waved at the blond. "Yo! Didn't expect to see me so soon, did 'cha?" The blond slowly shook his head, getting a confused look from Sora. "Well I won't stay long so you won't make yourself look stupid." Reno made a jester towards the boy next to him who was still giving his twin a confused look. "I just felt like I should warn you that Axel is close to here and your older brother and his Nymph friend are on their way as well. And I would also like to add that I am hurt that you don't believe in Axel more. He's your mate, for God's sake!" And with that the redhead disappeared.

"Are you okay Roxas?" asked Sora. "You were spacing out. Do you feel alright?" A few moments later Sora's expression changed from confused to excitement. "Are you...?" The brunet jumped off the bed and ran towards the blond. "Did you do the nasty and forget about the condoms?" Sora asked with a sly grin as he started to rub the blond's stomach.

Before he could do anything, Riku interrupted. "He has a point Roxas. You don't smell like you're in Heat anymore. But I just saw you so it would have been too recent to be sure." He turned towards Sora. "What are condoms?"

"Well you see when a mommy and daddy love each other very much and don't want any brats around to ruin their love time they just slip on a cond-" Sora was cut off by Roxas's hand.

"It doesn't matter. But we need to get out of here, like now." The other two nodded in agreement and quickly left the den. The sun was slowly making its decent down. But they still had about three more hours till nightfall.

They didn't get far. As they pasted the dens someone emerged from one of them. "Riku, what do you think you're doing with Axel's bitch and the hostage?" The man was tall, but not as tall as Axel, he had glowing gold eyes, had tan skin, and sliver-white hair.

Riku stuck one of his arms out, preventing the twins from walking any farther. "Xemnas."

~X~x~X~x~

Axel was running as fast as his human legs could take him. He knew he'd have to stop soon for water or he wouldn't make it to the pack's den. The redhead followed the familiar path to the closest lake from the den to rest.

The longer he waited, the longer Axel had to rest the temptation to pace. The whole point was to gain back energy so, if he had to, he would be able to fight Xemnas or one of his cronies, though he hoped it wouldn't get to that. His plan was to get Roxas and get out as fast as they could.

He needed to get to his mate soon. Not knowing what the pack leader was thinking scared Axel. What if he didn't make it in time?

A sudden noise came from the bushes behind Axel. The redhead turned and growled at the approaching intruder.

"Calm the fuck down. God damn." Axel stopped growling as soon as he heard his mate's brother's voice. Cloud and Squall made it through the brush and were standing in the clearing. "The fuck is your problem?"

"Go home. Both of you," Axel glared at the human then the Nymph. "I can get Roxas by myself."

Cloud glared back at the Lycanthrope. "Fine, you can get Roxas, but we're getting Sora." The blond placed his hands on his hips as he took in the redhead's confused look. "What? Didn't you know you bastards kidnapped both of my brothers? Sounds like we know a hell of lot more than you." Cloud started to walk away from the two Mystics. He didn't get far though before he turned around. "Well are you going to show me where they're at or not?"

"No, I'm not," Axel said as he placed his arms across his chest. "You'll do nothing but hinder me." Green eyes shot stormy gray a sympathetic look as they took in the Nymph's injuries. "No offense to you. But he's human. They cause nothing but trouble," Axel pointed a finger in Cloud's direction.

"Now wait a minute! My brother, your so called mate, is human too!" The blond snapped back.

"You're right he is my mate, so he's not human." Axel grinned down on the human. Squall just stood on the sidelines and wondered when the two would stop fighting. After a few more minutes of their arguing, the Nymph couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey!" He yelled to get their attention. "We're wasting sunlight here! Quit your arguing and let's go already. Aren't you worried about Roxas and Sora?"

Axel and Cloud spared each other a quick glance before saying, "Let's go!" in unison which made a small smile to appear on Squall's face. No matter how much they hated the other, their personalities were identical. Both were loyal, would do anything for the ones they love and stubborn as a mule.

Without another word, the trio left the small lake and made their way towards the large mountain of rocks that made the local Lycanthrope den.


	18. Found Roxas

"Hurry up!" Axel yelled behind him as he climbed up the steep rocks that lead to the dens. Squall was a few feet behind him while Cloud was trailing behind. The redhead grumbled under his breath about useless humans. The sun was starting its decent from the sky and the trio would be lucky if they found the brothers before nightfall.

Cloud was panting as he struggled to keep up with the two Mystics but he refused to stop. He wanted to prove Axel wrong. Humans were not weak and useless. But as he was climbing up the steep rocks, he lost his footing. A scream caught in his throat as he started to fall. His blue eyes closed as he waited for the painful impact but it never came.

The blond cracked open his eyes and saw that Squall holding his arm, keeping Cloud from falling.

The Nymph pulled up Cloud to his feet. "You alright?"

The blond pulled his arm out of Squall's grasp. "Peachy."

"Hurry up!"

~X~x~X~x~

Xemnas walked up to the trio with his golden eyes focused on Roxas. "You must be Axel's mate." A grin made its way to his face. "Well aren't you cute? I can see why he picked you. But I guess he doesn't love you, seeing how he hasn't come for you or anything."

Roxas gave a quiet whimper and leaned into his twin. Xemnas had a point. He needed to get help from Riku and Axel had yet to be seen.

"He probably doesn't know where to find you," Sora whispered into his brother's ear so no one else could hear him. "I bet you he's running around the forest like a chicken with its head cut off." Roxas pressed his face into Sora's shoulder to suppress his laughter. Why couldn't the brunet ever be serious?

"And Riku, you're lucky you're not mature yet or I would have killed you by now." Xemnas sneered at his fellow wolf. It was true. Riku was still a pup in the eyes of Lycanthropes, but that would change in less than a year. Xemnas took a step forward. "Roxas, come with me and I will take better care of you than that mutt you call a 'mate'."

"Don't." Riku looked over his shoulder and at the twins. "He's playing with your head, Roxas. Axel's looking for you and you know it."

Roxas nodded his head, which was still buried in Sora's shoulder.

~X~x~X~x~

Axel, Cloud, and Squall were looking over the top of the rock formation and down at the dens.

"Shit," Axel mumbled. "They're with Xemnas." He was getting ready to launch himself down at the pack leader but someone grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Don't be so rash," Squall scolded him. With a hard tug, the Nymph managed to pull the redhead back down. "There's a whole pack of Lycanthropes down there. If we just run down there and attack, we're going to lose. We need a plan."

"I should just go and snatch them," Cloud said with his blue eyes glued on his brothers. He didn't care if he was fast or strong enough to beat the creatures; his brothers were down there.

"No way in hell!" Axel yelled at the human. "Roxas is my mate so I should get him. You stay up here and don't get in the way."

"They're both my brothers. You should just fuck off!"

Squall's left eye twitched. The two hadn't stopped bickering since they met and it was starting to get on the Nymph's nerves. With all the noise, they would draw attention to them. "If the both of you don't shut up, I'm going to go down there by myself."

That put the fighting to an end. Cloud looked up at the Nymph with wide eyes. "But you're hurt. There's no way you'll be able to..." His voice got quiet and he gestured to Squall's bandaged arm.

"Don't look down on me because of that." Squall's storm colored eyes glared at the human. "I could kick your ass anytime I want."

"Okay, now that we solved that little mystery, can we go get Roxas now?" Axel growled.

"And Sora." Cloud glared at the Lycanthrope. How dare the redhead forget about the brunet twin?

Axel fidgeted in place with his eyes on his blond mate. The boy was clinging to his brother like his life depended on it and was hiding his face away. He looked like a little kid who was trying to get away from the boogieman. It tore Axel's heart that he couldn't be the one down there comforting him.

A flash of amber caught Axel's attention away from Roxas.

"Oh shit!" Axel ducked. The other two gave him questioning looks. "Xemnas see's us," He whispered like it would make a difference.

Squall and Cloud looked over the edge of the rocks and sure enough Xemnas was looking up at them with a large grin on his face. Riku and Sora were also looking at them. The brunet's face had a huge smile on it as he looked up at his big brother.

The brunet twin tried to get Roxas to look up but the young Lycanthrope didn't until he heard Xemnas speak. "How nice of you to come, Axel."

Blue eyes shot up from Sora's shoulder and scanned the surrounding area. Roxas scowled when he didn't see the redhead anywhere in sight. Sora huffed and grabbed both sides of his twin's head, manhandling the blond till he was facing up towards the trio. His eyes met Axel's green and relief washed over him. Axel did come for him!

"Zexion! Xigbar! Marluxia! Demyx!" Xemnas barked. The four emerged from their dens, all in their human forms.

Xigbar had his arm casually slung around a blond male who was only a little shorter than him. Or maybe his mullet style hair just gave it that illusion. Xigbar's one golden eye looked at the scene in front of him and saw the trio on top of the dens. He pulled his mate closer. "What's going on?" His eye narrowed in Axel's direction then he looked towards Sora and saw the blond attached to his arm. The blond's eyes were glued onto the redhead and a ghost of a smile planted on his face. So that must be Roxas.

A rose colored wolf and Zexion came out of the den that was behind the twins. Zexion was in his human form, fixing his hair so half of his face was covered by steel colored bangs.

"Sir?" Xigbar asked once all four Lycanthropes were there.

Xemnas tilted his head up towards Axel. "We have some troublesome guests. Take care of them." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed them. His golden eyes turned on Riku. "Get out of here." He growled.

Riku hesitated but after a few moments he decided it was best to go. Axel could protect his mate. He ruffled Roxas's blond spikes as he walked passed him. Sora glared at the retreating Lycanthrope's back. Before he could say anything, his twin clamped his hand over the brunet's mouth.

"Not now," Roxas hissed in his brother's ear.

Meanwhile Axel, not seeing any reason to stay hidden anymore, was sprinting down the rocky cliff with ease; Cloud and Squall were not far behind but were hindered by the unfamiliar terrain. The four Lycanthropes that Xemnas had called were just standing there, confused about what was going on. The rose colored one, Marluxia, was the first to make a move.

He sprinted up the rocks towards Axel. The wolf knocked into the redhead, causing him to tumble down the rocks. Axel landed with a grunt and he curled up into the fetal position to nurse his now bruised side. Marluxia landed next to him and turned the fallen man over so he could place his front paws on Axel's chest. He growled down at him with their noses inches apart.

Roxas watched in horror as his mate was pinned to the ground. He wanted to run and help him but, as he made a move, a thick tree root came out of the ground, smacked the wolf off of Axel and pinned Marluxia under it.

"Idiots! What the hell are you doing?" Xemnas sneered at the three unmoving Lycanthropes.

Xigbar pushed Demyx behind him. "But sir, Demyx can't fight. With the pups-"

"Those pups are over a year old. I highly doubt that his body is still suffering from the effects of pregnancy and child birth." Xemnas brushed off the excuse with a wave of his hand but the two still didn't move.

Zexion looked from the pinned wolf, to Xigbar and Demyx, to Xemnas, and back to Marluxia. He did that a few times to formulate a plan before he ran towards the trapped wolf's side. Before the steel haired boy could do anything, strong arms wrapped around him, pinned his arms to his side, and lifted him off the ground. The pup thrashed around trying to make the man lose his grip but it wasn't working. All he could see of his attacker was his blond hair. It must be that human. Zexion thought as he stilled, as fighting against his hold proved to be pointless.

"Axel!" Roxas managed to get to his mate's side. With shaking hands, Roxas brushed red hair away from the man's face. Axel was awake and was studying the boy's face. His blue eyes were clouded with tears that were too stubborn to fall.

Axel reached up and cupped the blond's face. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. How are you? Did he do anything?"

Roxas shook his head which made Axel's hand fall but Roxas caught it and absentmindedly played with the long fingers. "N-no, he just said some things."

"Awww, you guys are so freaking adorable!" Sora gushed in the background.

Squall was removing the root from the now still Lycanthrope and Cloud dropped Zexion on the ground, making the steel haired man fell on his ass. The blond ran over to Sora and pulled the younger boy in a tight hug before releasing him with a glare. "Do you know how fucking worried I was? What the fuck, Sora?"

"I don't know what happened! I was with Mr. Vexen and then I don't remember...Oh Mr. Vexen! He might be in trouble too! We need to find him!" Blue eyes scanned the clearing but he didn't see any signs of his science teacher. Marluxia, Zexion, and Demyx had disappeared and Xigbar was locked in a glaring contest with the pack leader.

"Don't worry about him. We need to leave before Xemnas notices," Axel grunted out as Squall helped him stand.

Roxas gasped once his mate was fully standing. "Axel! Your back!" He pointed to the red stain that was seeping through the redhead's shirt.

Axel was numb from the shoulders down. "It's fine. Let's just get moving." The redhead had to lean on Squall as the group slowly made their way up the rocks.

About half way up, Roxas felt someone watching him. Blue locked in on amber.

"He may have found you this time, but you won't be so lucky next time we meet."

X~x~X~x~

By the time the group safely made it to the other side, the sun was almost gone. Axel could no longer support himself and Squall had to carry him on his back.

"We'll never make it back to the den in time," The Nymph noted.

Roxas was fidgeting. Between Xemnas' threat, a hurt Axel, and a possible Heartless attack, the blond was more than a little unnerved. He felt a large warm hand grab his. He looked up and saw worried green eyes looking at him. "Everything's going to work out. You know I won't let anything happen to you." Roxas nodded his head and Axel leaned in as close as he could. "I love you."

But before his lips could meet the blond's, Roxas pulled away. "I'm sorry."

Cloud groaned. "Can we get a move on? I'd rather not get eaten tonight."

Sora's eyes widened. "W-what?" He looked over at his twin. "I'm with Cloud."

Squall shifted a bit to readjust Axel's weight. "The best bet we have is to go to the Outerlands. If we hurry, we might be able to miss the Heartless."

"I get to go home?" Sora asked.

"Looks that way." Roxas mumbled as they jogged in the direction of the human town.

X~x~X~x~

Night had just fallen when they made it to the Jecht's house. They made it to the edge of the forest before any Heartless could get to them. All the lights were on and Yuna's silhouette could be seen in the kitchen.

"Mom!" Sora yelled as he sprinted towards the back door.

Yuna's mix-matched eyes widened at the sound of her son's voice. She quickly turned towards the door and wrapped Sora in a bear hug.

"M-mom, I can't breathe," Sora gasped out.

Yuna pulled away and started to mess with the brunet boy's hair out of habit. "Sorry baby, I was just worried you ran away like your brothers." Tears fell from her eyes. "Am I that bad of a parent?"

"Mom?"

Yuna looked up and saw her two blond sons standing in the doorway with two strangers, one of which had passed out from weariness and pain. But the brunet woman didn't even notice them; all she saw was her two lost boys. "Cloud? Roxas?"

Roxas ran up to his mom and hugged her. He didn't realize how much he had missed her. The blond had just been home the day before but it just wasn't the same without her. "I missed you." Roxas mumbled as he pulled away and Cloud took his place hugging Yuna.

After a few moments, Squall decided to end the family reunion by clearing his throat. Yuna's head snapped in his direction and her eyes were widened with shock. "Sorry to interrupt but he's kind of heavy." The Nymph said.

"Oh my goodness!" Yuna ushered the duo inside and guided them into the living room where Squall placed Axel on the couch to lie on his stomach. Yuna grabbed a pair of scissors and, as gently as she could, cut the shirt off of the redhead. She examined the wound. "He lost a lot of blood and it looks like it will scar." Yuna looked down at Roxas, who was sitting by the redhead's head and holding his hand with a worried expression on his face. "Roxas, can you grab the first aid kit for me?"

The blond didn't have to be told twice. He jumped up from his spot and ran up the stairs towards the bathroom where the kit was kept. On his way back down, he ran into Naminé coming out of her room

"Roxas!" The little girl ran up to her big brother and almost knocked him to the ground. "Why are you back so soon?"

Roxas pulled Naminé off of him and continued downstairs with the girl on his heels. When the two made it back to the living room, Naminé gasped. "Axel?" She looked up at her older brothers. "What happened?"

Yuna took the first aid kit that was handed to her and continued with her work. "Do you know him, sweetheart?" She asked with a confused look on her face

"Yup," The blond girl confirmed. "He's Roxas's husband."

Yuna stopped cleaning Axel's lower back and looked up at her son. "Roxas?"

The blond glared down at his sister before he looked over at his mom. "It's a long story and I promise to tell you everything in the morning."

Yuna looked like she was about to say something but, before she could get anything out, Sora came into the room with Squall and Cloud behind him. "Is he going to be alright, Mom?" The brunet asked.

"Well, he's lost quite a bit of blood and his spine and left hip are bruised pretty badly, but I think he'll be fine." She turned towards Squall. "Can you sit him up for me so I can wrap some gaze around him, please?" The Nymph did as he was told and, when Yuna finished up with the gaze, the Nymph laid him back down.

Yuna stood up and turned towards everyone. "Now you all need your rest. Go to bed." She dismissed them. "And I do expect an explanation in the morning. And it better be a good one. Oh and can you send up the tall brunet? It looks his bandages are old," She added to Roxas in a worried voice.

Roxas nodded his head and went downstairs with the other boys. When he got to the basement, he noticed the shortage of beds. Sora was arguing with Cloud over where everyone would sleep.

"I can sleep in your bed and you and Squall can share mine and Roxas's," The brunet said.

Cloud crossed his arms and glared down at his younger brother. "And what makes you think I want to share a bed with that fairy? And where would Roxas sleep?"

Sora opened his mouth to say a comeback but closed it. He had forgotten about his brother. "Maybe he could squeeze on the couch with Axel?"

"Are you kidding? He's freaking huge and takes up the whole couch," Roxas interjected with a small smirk on his face. It was nice seeing his brothers fight again. He turned towards the Nymph who was standing off to the side. "Mom wants to change your bandages."

Squall nodded and made his way upstairs again. He found Yuna back in the kitchen, waiting at the table for him.

"I don't think we've been introduced. My name's Yuna Jecht." She extended her hand.

"Squall." The Nymph grabbed the offered hand and shook it as he sat down. The two sat in silence as Yuna fixed up Squall's face and arm. The Nymph breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't ask how he got hurt. He stood up and, before the woman could leave the room, Squall said. "Thank you for everything ma'am-"

"Yuna."

"-Yuna," Squall corrected himself. "But I don't think I'm going to stay the night. If anything happens to Axel, can you send someone over to Braska's to tell me?"

"You know my dad?" Yuna asked.

The Nymph nodded. "Sort of." He walked out the back door and threw a 'Goodnight' over his shoulder before he disappeared into the darkness.

Down in the basement, the siblings fell into their usual sleeping arrangements once Yuna told them that Squall had left. The lights were off but Roxas could make out everything that was happening around him. Sora's top half was hanging off of the bed, just begging to drag the brunet to the cold floor. Cloud was curled up in a small ball and quietly snoring. But the small blond couldn't get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

After a good two hours of rolling around, Roxas got fed up. He had a feeling that the absence of Axel's warm body was affecting him. He made his way up the stairs as quietly as he could and found his redhead lying in the same position that he was left in.

Roxas smiled a bit, sat on the ground next to Axel's head and started to brush his bright red hair. Axel let out a little moan and his eyes opened.

"Roxas?" The redhead mumbled as he took in the blond's face. "What's the matter?" His words slurred a bit as he came back to consciousness.

Roxas shrugged and continued brushing Axel's hair. "I couldn't sleep."

"So you decided to watch me? You're such a creep!" Axel joked. He lifted a hand and, mimicking Roxas, brushed the blond's spikes.

"Mmmhmm. You're right. I just couldn't help myself. Oh and since you're up and we're alone, I feel like now's the right time to tell you. I'm sorry about this morning and well pretty much all of today."

Axel's hand stopped moving for a moment and he just stared at his mate. The poor blond's face was twisted with guilt. "Roxy, you have nothing to apologize for. This morning was all on me. I took it too far. And as for my back, that's also on me. I should have handled the whole situation better than I did."

Roxas wasn't happy with that answer. "But if I didn't freak then you wouldn't have left, and Kairi wouldn't have run away."

"Can we agree to disagree?" Axel asked in a quiet voice. "I'm still pretty tired and don't wanna get in an argument over something stupid like this."

The blond was about to argue that this argument was not stupid but decided against it. He dropped his hand from Axel's hair and traced the purple tattoos on the man's face. "Alright, I'll drop it. Goodnight." Roxas made a move to stand up but Axel reached out and grabbed his wrist, keeping him there. With a grunt, the redhead moved over a bit so there would be enough room for his mate to slip on the couch with him and, with a firm yank, pulled Roxas over to him.

"Sleep with me."

Roxas hesitated but this is what he wanted right? That's the reason he came up here. So he slowly climbed onto the couch and laid on his side so he could fit comfortably. Axel threw his arm around the blond's waist and pulled him closer. Axel's smell wasn't as strong but it was comforting to the blond. The two quickly fell asleep like that..


	19. Meet the Parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a fail writer and the rewrite of this story is now being rewritten as well. If you're interested in the first rewrite go look at Abandoned and the redo for that should be up as soon as I'm done outlining. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience of all of this and I hope you'll all stick around for my other stories :)

"Told ya he'd be here."

"What the fuck?"

Roxas moaned as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was two identical pairs of blue eyes staring down at him. The blond gave a yelp and would have tumbled off the couch if it wasn't for the heavy weight on his midsection. With a quick glance down, Roxas confirmed that, at some point during the night, he had managed to worm his way under Axel and the redhead was using his stomach as a makeshift pillow. Roxas's hands ran his fingers through Axel's silky locks; he decided Axel's hair was one of his favorite features of his mate.

"You know, you two are so sweet that I'm going to get diabetes, right?" Sora gushed

Cloud gave his younger brother a strange look. "You make it sound like a good thing." Sora stuck his tongue out only to be flipped off. Roxas sighed as he watched his siblings fight. Some things never changed.

Axel stirred from all the talking. The first thing he saw was the skin that Roxas' shirt wasn't covering. He glanced up at his mate and was pleased to see that the blond was distracted with watching his brother's fight. A large smirk grew on Axel's face as he stuck his tongue out and gave the pale skin a small lick. The hand in his hair twitched a bit but the blond didn't do anything else. The redhead planted his lips on the skin and sank his teeth into Roxas's hip with enough force to leave a bruise.

Roxas gasped and kicked the redhead off of him. Axel landed on the ground and let out a painful howl. The white carpet under the man started to turn red.

"Oh, shit! Mom!" Sora yelled as he ran up the stairs to get Yuna.

Roxas's eyes widened as he knelt next to his mate. "Axel, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" The blond went to reach out to the redhead. As soon as his hand made contact with the other's skin green eyes snapped open and Axel let out a fierce growl, blindly swiping his hand in the direction of the blond. Axel's sharp fingernail caught on Roxas's cheek and left a scratch in its wake.

Roxas fell backwards with his wide blue eyes glued on his mate. He was frozen as he watched Axel wither on the floor in pain. There was nothing he could do to calm the man down and that sent a stab to Roxas's heart. A hand pulled Roxas back up to his feet and he was dragged to the other side of the room. Roxas didn't want to look away from Axel.

"He's nothing but a wild beast." Cloud mumbled under his breath. His hold on Roxas tightened.

Roxas wanted to talk back to his older brother, that Axel was not a wild beast he was just in pain. Before he could open his mouth, Sora, Auron, and both of his parents came down the stairs. Yuna had her hand clamped around Tidus's arm while the first-aid kit was in the other.

Tidus didn't seem to understand what was going on. After rubbing his eyes a few times and yawning, he scanned the living room for the 'disaster' Sora was yelling about. His blue eyes landed on his two missing sons. Letting out a very unmanly squeal, the blond man ran up to the boys and pulled them both into a tight bear hug.

Yuna sighed and mumbled something about how Sora probably got his attention span from his father. The woman's attention went straight to the man in pain on her living room floor. Yuna's mix-matched eyes made a quick assessment on the situation, from how much pain Axel seemed to be in to the fresh cut on her son's face, and called Auron to help her.

"I need you to flip him and pin his arms down for me," Yuna demanded the large man. Auron did as he was told and flipped the redhead without getting hit by Axel's wild thrashing. Yuna peeled the now red bandage and grimaced at the sight of all the blood that was coming out of the redhead's back. "He's going to need stitches. We have to take him to the hospital." Yuna said over her shoulder towards her husband and sons.

Roxas managed to get out of his father's grasp and walk towards the three on the floor, shaking his head. "We can't do that." Without thinking, he walked closer to Axel so he could see the damage himself and couldn't help the troubled look that showed on his face.

Yuna was busying herself by cleaning the large wound but stopped mid task to look up at her son. "And why not?" She didn't try to hid the annoyance in her voice

Because if we go to the hospital they'll ask questions that we can't answer. When we can't answer the questions, they'll get suspicious. When they get suspicious, they'll find things out about Axel that will probably keep him from Kairi. Blue eyes widened in realization. Roxas spun around and looked at his older brother. "Cloud! Kairi's all by herself! We need to go back for her!"

Axel perked up at the sound of his sister's name. "Kairi?"

"Who's Kairi?" Yuna asked. She was back to fixing Axel's back up but the best she could do was clean it so it wouldn't get infected and wrap it up.

"She's my little sister." Axel said between clenched teeth. He was still in a lot of pain. Biting Roxas had been a bad idea. Green eyes turned towards Roxas. "Don't worry. I sent a babysitter. Though, she was expecting us back last night." Axel finished with a light chuckle.

Tidus seemed to have settled down a bit. "Who are you?" It seemed the blond man had just noticed the intruder in his house but was put at ease by the fact that Auron was holding the redhead down.

"Dad, this is Axel. Axel, this is my dad, Tidus." Roxas introduced the two. The blond was standing between the men.

"Pleased to meet you, sir." Axel said from his stop on the floor. He would have waved if his arms weren't still pinned to the ground. Yuna instructed Auron to move Axel off the ground and onto the couch. Once the redhead was seated, he made a quick grab for Roxas and pulled the small blond onto his lap, earning a small squeak from the boy.

Tidus eyebrows shot up and he gave the two a questioning look. "What's going on? I mean, Roxas you disappear for the better part of three weeks with Cloud out looking for you, and now both of you are back with..." The blond left his sentence hanging and made a jester towards his son and the redhead.

Yuna sat down on the loveseat that was across from the sofa. "Explain." She had her eyes glued onto her youngest son and the man Naminé claimed to be Roxas's 'husband'. A hand grabbed Tidus's shirt as Yuna pulled her husband to sit next to her. Cloud sat on a plush chair that was in the corner of the room, Auron leaned against a wall, and Sora plopped himself on the floor right in front of his twin like a little kid who was waiting for someone to tell a story.

"Well..." Roxas's blue eyes traveled around the room so he didn't have to make eye contact with anyone. Telling your family you were gay was hard enough, but how could he also throw in that he wasn't technically human anymore? "I-I'm...sort of...kind of..."

"Gay?" Tidus finished for him in a bored voice. Roxas's face turned red at the comment. "Don't worry. We didn't know." The blond made a motion between him and his wife. "But right now it's pretty obvious. Don't worry! I'm not disappointed. Just surprised." He smiled at his son. Tidus was lying when he said he wasn't disappointed but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Darn. I wanted grandbabies." Yuna pouted earning outraged cries from her other sons. "What? I mean, Naminé's to young, and you know how Sora is with relationships." The brunet stuck his tongue out and made a disgusted noise. "And Cloud...well, he's Cloud." Yuna laughed at the glare she was getting from her oldest child.

Axel leaned down so his mouth was by Roxas's ear. "Should we tell her the good news then?" The redhead's hand moved so it rested against the blond's stomach.

Roxas tuned his head enough so he could send his mate a light glare. "And how do you suppose we do that? 'Don't worry mom, I'm a freak now who can bear children, so you don't need to worry about being grandbaby-less'"

"You're a freak who can bear children?" Tidus asked.

Oh shit! I must have said that too loud! Roxas was having a slight mental freak-out. His blue eyes traveled around the room. Both his parents seemed confused, Auron still looked indifferent, Cloud was a bit shocked, and Sora was rolling on the ground, holding his sides and laughing. Roxas really wanted to kick him. Well, it's now or never. Roxas took a deep calming breath and told Yuna and Tidus everything. He told them how he met Axel, showed them the bite, about Kairi, Sora's kidnapping, and everything in between.

Once he finished, the room was filled with silence so the two on the loveseat could process what they were just told. Roxas wanted to shrivel up and die. While he was talking, Axel had pulled the blond tight against his chest, making the small blond feel safe.

Tidus was the first to speak. "So you're a Lycantaloupe?"

Roxas' palm made contact with his face. "Lycanthrope, dad. Lycanthrope." He could feel Axel try to hold back a laugh. The feeling of the redhead's moving chest against his back made a smile spread across the small blond's face.

"Po-tat-to, Pa-tat-to" The oldest blond said with a dismissive wave. With a sudden burst of energy, Tidus shot up from his seat and started to walk towards the kitchen. "It's too early in the morning for bedtime stories. Coffee time!" Yuna got up and followed her husband towards the kitchen mumbling something about how her husband will burn the house down if he touches the coffee maker.

The smallest blond leaned his head back so it was resting on Axel's shoulder. "Why does it feel like they don't believe me?"

"They might need more than a hickey for proof." Sora said, earning a glare from his twin. "You could do something to prove it." The brunet covered.

Cloud spoke for the first time. "And do what? Get knocked up? I'll castrate that beast before that happens." Blue eyes glared into green.

"Back down, Cloud." Auron sculled his nephew.

"Maybe you could shift for them?" Axel said in a quiet voice. "I'd do it but I don't think my back would be able to handle it."

Roxas sighed. Axel was right but the blond really didn't want to do it. Every time he changed he felt a little bit of his humanity slip away. He climbed off his mate and walked towards the small bathroom that was downstairs.

The small blond's reflection was the first thing he saw when he flipped the light on. He had major bed head going on and there was an angry looking red cut on his cheek. Roxas closed the door just enough so that he felt confident that he could paw it open.

A few minutes passed and everyone in the living room was growing impatient. Axel was biting his long nails down to nubs. Something was nagging at his nerves.

A wet nudge at his arm brought the redhead out of his thoughts and he was looking down at his mate's blue eyes. "You okay?" Roxas asked in a low whimper.

Axel smiled down at the blond wolf and scratched him behind his golden ears. "I'm fine."

A sudden weight on Roxas made him lose his balance and fall. "Holy shit Roxas! You're freaking adorable!" Sora's arms wrapped around his twins neck and pulled him into a tight hug. Auron grabbed the brunet by the back of his shirt and yanked him off of Roxas. Sora pouted up at his uncle before going to sit on the armrest of the chair Cloud was sitting on. "Doesn't Roxas look cute?" He asked his older brother.

Cloud looked at his youngest brother. He couldn't deny that the blond wolf was, as Sora put it, 'freaking adorable', but Cloud didn't like that his brother was forced to be something like that.

"Coffee's done if anyone wants some-AH!" Yuna jumped backwards when she saw a wolf standing in her living room. Roxas walked up to his mother and gave her hand a small lick. "What?  
Roxas?" Roxas's ears perked up and his tail started to wag.

Tidus walked in the room and almost walked right into Yuna. "Hey, why are you just standing- Why's there a dog in the house?"

"That's Roxas." Yuna whispered.

The blond man started laughing. "Roxas? Really?" He looked over at Sora. "Was this prank your idea? Because I got to hand it to you, it's a pretty good one. The dog even looks similar to Roxas." Tidus bent down and started to pet the wolf.

"It's not a prank, sir. That really is Roxas." Axel said from his spot on the couch.

Tidus's eyes went from the redhead and back to the blond wolf. The front door opened without a knock, taking everyone's attention off of Roxas, Braska and Squall walked in.

"Dad!" Yuna rushed over to her father. "What are you doing here?" She was starting to panic. Braska hated things from the forest and at the moment she was housing two Lycanthropes.

Braska looked past his daughter and at Axel. "Wow, in the light, you really do look like your father."

"My father? You knew him?" Axel asked

"Of course I know him. He helped me keep tabs on things going on in the forest." The older man had a nostalgic look on his face before he remembered what happened two years ago. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Wait, you know each other?" Tidus cut into their conversation.

Braska's blue eyes left Axel and he looked at his son-in-law. "Auron didn't tell you?"

"Auron!?" Both Yuna and Tidus yelled and turned on the older man, who was nowhere in sight.

Squall stood by the front door, waiting for the group to get up so they could be on their way. "We should get going before it gets too late. Fran needs to get back to her burrow and Kairi's waiting for you two."

Axel nodded his head and went to stand up but ended up falling back onto the couch, hissing in pain.

"I don't think you're going anywhere soon." Yuna mumbled with a frown on her face. She didn't like to see people in pain. "You're more than welcome to stay here till you're fully healed. Kairi can even come." Then the brunet's face seemed to light up. "You can stay for Nami's birthday!" She turned towards her youngest son and knelt down so she could pull him into a hug. "This is going to be great!"


End file.
